lote

Forms

lote m (plural lotes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French lot (“share, portion”), which is from Frankish *lot.^[2][3][4][1] The French word is recorded from about 1140, and the Frankish form is reconstructed from Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃 (hlauts, “lot, inheritance”) and Old High German hlōz (“lot”), with English lot, Dutch lot and Old Norse hlutr as cognates.^[5][2] Wiktionary takes it back to *hlutą (“lot, share”), from the root of *hleutaną (“to cast lots”).^[1]

Wiktionary also allows a direct Germanic loan, through Suevic or from the Gothic word, beside the French one.^[1][6] Adolfo Coelho, following Diez, had derived it from Gothic, and Nascentes rejected this for the French source.^[1][6] Bluteau already took it from French “lot”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is from 1459, tres lotees, in a document printed in the Descobrimentos Portugueses.^[8][2] The earliest dictionaries give it the sense “kind, quality” (Pereira 1697: genus).^[9]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1813) lists a number of people, a band (um lote de escravos from Africa), the grade or quality of goods (vinho de mais alto lote), and a prize drawn in a lottery.^[10] Vieira (1871–1874) puts first the share of a whole divided by lot among several people.^[11]

Brazil added the plot of land laid out for building or small farming, and the group of up to ten pack animals with one driver, dated 1889.^[2][12] Later senses are a batch of goods made under the same conditions, a blend of wines, and in computing a batch of records or commands.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – French lot is first recorded.^[5][2]
• 1459 – tres lotees.^[8]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses lote as genus “kind”.^[9]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau derives it from French lot.^[7]
• 1813 – Morais lists the band of people, the quality of goods and the lottery prize.^[10][3] Cunha dates lotar to the same year.^[10][3]
• 1889 – the Brazilian sense “group of pack animals”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A share or portion of a whole divided among several people; the part an heir receives.^[2][12][1]
2. An item or group of items sold together at an auction (leilão): a lot.^[2][13]
3. (chiefly Brazil) A plot of land for building or small farming.^[2][12][1]
4. A batch of goods of the same kind, or of a product made under the same conditions.^[2][1]
5. The grade or quality of a commodity.^[2][14]
6. A group of people or of animals: um lote de bois.^[2][15][16]
7. (Brazil) A group of up to ten pack animals with one driver.^[2][14]
8. A portion of fresh fish sold at auction; lota.^[2][15]
9. (computing) A batch of records or commands processed as one unit.^[2]

Word family

• lotar
• lotação
• lotear
• loteamento
• superlotar

Related words

• French lot

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lote
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. lote
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lote
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. lot
6. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 304
7. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lote
8. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. lote
9. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lote
10. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 236
11. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 1340
12. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lote
13. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. lote
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. lote
15. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. lote
16. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 2