lutar

Forms

lutar (first-person singular present luto, first-person singular preterite lutei, past participle lutado)^[1] The medieval form was luitar;^[2][3] Cunha dates it to the 13th century.^[2][3] Houaiss records the Latinising spelling luctar in 1500 and lutar from 1679–1697.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin luctor (“to wrestle, to struggle”), through the active form of the verb, written Old Galician-Portuguese luitar in the oldest texts.^[4][2][1] Cunha and Nascentes start from the active infinitive, which Old Latin used beside the classical deponent.^[2][5][6] Nascentes calls the modern form semi-learned.^[5]

The same Latin word is Galician loitar, Spanish luchar, Catalan lluitar, French lutter, Italian lottare and Romanian lupta.^[7][8][1] Corominas notes that the length of the Latin vowel is unknown.^[9]

De Vaan explains the Latin verb as a frequentative of a participle *luktos (“bent”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend”), with cognates in Celtic and λύγος (lúgos, “withy”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria use luitar for wrestling and for fighting the devil: cono demo luitando “wrestling with the devil”, and quen soube luitar, luitou “whoever knew how to wrestle, wrestled”.^[3] The same glossary lists the sense “to fight” for these lines.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 and Pereira's of 1697 the word renders Latin luctor;^[10][11][12] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it as exercising in wrestling and adds the master who teaches it.^[10][11][12] Morais (1813) adds figurative senses: a ship struggling with the waves, a person struggling with adversity or with pain.^[13]

Today the verb covers combat sports, armed fighting, the struggle for a cause and the effort to overcome any difficulty;^[4][14] lutar com a morte is to be in one's death throes.^[4][14]

Timeline

• 13th century – luitar in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3][2]
• 1500 – the Latinising spelling luctar.^[4]
• 1569 – Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary has lutar.^[10]
• 1679–1697 – the spelling lutar is recorded.^[4]
• 1813 – Morais lists the figurative senses and, as a separate verb, lutar “to seal with clay paste”.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wrestle or fight someone hand to hand; to practise a combat sport: Ele luta judô desde criança.^[4][15]
2. To fight with or without weapons, to combat: Os soldados lutaram durante toda a noite.^[4][16][1]
3. To oppose someone with determination, to fight for a cause or against an adversary: lutar por uma causa.^[4][17]
4. To strive, to struggle hard to achieve or overcome something: Lutou anos pela casa própria.^[4][14][1]
5. (figurative) To resist, to be in the throes of something: lutar com a morte.^[4][18]

Related words

• luta
• lutador
• relutar
• Latin luctor
• Galician loitar
• Spanish luchar

Usage notes

Houaiss, Aurélio and the DLP also record a separate technical verb lutar “to seal or coat with luto, a clay paste”, from Latin luto “to daub with mud”;^[4][14][17] Houaiss dates it to before 1716.^[4][14][17]

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 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 e 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. luitar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lutar
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lutar
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. luctor
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5148
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. luctare
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 706
10. ^ a b c Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lutar
11. ^ 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. lutar
12. ^ 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. lutar
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 241
14. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lutar
15. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. lutar
16. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. lutar
17. ^ a b c 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. lutar
18. ^ 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. lutar