luta

Forms

luta f (plural lutas, diminutive lutinha)^[1] The medieval form was luita, also spelt luyta and loita;^[2][3] luta is recorded from the 16th century.^[2][3][4] In the 19th century the word was also spelt lucta after the Latin.^[5][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin lucta (“wrestling; struggle”), written Old Galician-Portuguese luita in the oldest texts.^[6][2][7][1] The diphthong of the old form was later reduced, giving the modern form.^[6][8] The dialect of Melgaço keeps the old stage, and the verb luitar is still heard around Guimarães.^[4]

The same Latin word is Galician loita, Spanish lucha, Catalan lluita, French lutte, Italian lotta and Romanian luptă.^[9][1]

The noun appears only in post-classical Latin and was formed from the verb luctor (“to wrestle, struggle”).^[1] De Vaan and Wiktionary trace the verb to *luktos, a participle meaning “bent”, and Wiktionary to the root *lewg- (“to bend, twist”), comparing λύγος (lúgos).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria ask the Virgin to defend us do dem' e sas luitas “from the devil and his assaults”.^[3] In the 15th century D. Duarte's book on horsemanship writes luyta.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Cardoso (1569) and Barbosa (1611) gloss luta with Latin palaestra, wrestling as an exercise.^[11][12] Bluteau describes it as an exercise of the Romans in which each man tried to throw the other, and remarks that the Latin lucta that many moderns use is not found in the ancient authors.^[13] Morais (1813) has negar luta “to refuse a challenge”.^[14]

Modern dictionaries add the senses “fight, war”, “conflict” and “effort against difficulties”, the phrase luta de classes “class struggle” and the sports luta livre and luta greco-romana.^[6][1] In Brazil ir à luta means “to set about it, face the difficulties”.^[6]

Timeline

• 13th century – luitas in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3]
• 15th century – luyta in D. Duarte.^[4]
• 1569 – Cardoso heads the word luta.^[11]
• 1619 – Houaiss's first date for the form luta.^[6]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes Roman wrestling.^[13]
• 1871 – Vieira heads the word luta or lutta and refers it to lucta.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. wrestling; a sport in which two unarmed opponents fight hand to hand: luta livre.^[6][15]
2. A fight or combat, with or without weapons; a war: lutas civis.^[6][16][1]
3. Firm opposition between persons or groups; a conflict: a luta contra a corrupção.^[6][17]
4. A dispute, a debate.^[18][17]
5. A struggle, effort to overcome difficulties.^[6][18][1]

Related words

• lutador
• lutar
• relutar
• inelutável
• Late Latin lucta
• Galician loita
• Spanish lucha

Usage notes

Luta de classes is the conflict between social classes, central to Marxist theory.^[6] Dar luta means “to put up resistance”.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. luta
3. ^ a b c d 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. luita
4. ^ a b c d Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 306
5. ^ a b 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, 1354
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. luta
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. luta
8. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. luta
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5147
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. luta
12. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. luta
13. ^ 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. luta
14. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 241
15. ^ 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. luta
16. ^ 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. luta
17. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5793
18. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. luta