majestade

Forms

majestade f (plural majestades)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote magestade, majestade, maiestade, maistade and, in the 15th century, mayestade.^[2][3][4] Magestade was the usual spelling in the dictionaries from Cardoso (1569) to Morais (1789).^[5][6][7] Feijó (1734) wrote Magestade by usage, though the Latin has ⟨j⟩.^[8] Morais (1813) calls majestade the better spelling.^[9]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin maiestās (“greatness, dignity, majesty”), written Old Galician-Portuguese magestade and Old Galician-Portuguese majestade in the oldest texts.^{[2][3][10][1]} Nascentes counts it among the semi-learned words.^[10]

The same Latin word is Galician maxestade, Spanish majestad, French majesté, Italian maestà and Romanian maiestate.^[1][11]

The Latin noun belongs with the comparative maior (“greater”) and magnus (“great”), with the suffix -tās.^[12][13] Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Italic *magjes, a variant of the comparative *magjōs, and de Vaan likewise sees in it an old variant of the comparative suffix.^[1][13] De Vaan reconstructs the comparative as Proto-Indo-European *mǵ-is- (“greater”).^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha dates both majestade and magestade to the 13th century.^[3] In the Cantigas de Santa Maria Christ is Rey da Majestade “King of Majesty”, and Majestade or Magestade is also the image of the Virgin before which candles are lit and the faithful kneel.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Lorenzo dates the sense “object of worship” to 1330, and the Crónica Geral speaks of the dead coming before a maiestade de Deus on the Day of Judgement.^[4] The REW records Old Portuguese magestade “image of a saint”, and Medieval Latin majestas was likewise an image of Christ enthroned or a reliquary.^[11][14] Michaelis still lists an old sense, a crucifix of precious metal worn round the neck.^[15]

Bluteau (1712–1728) describes it as a title proper to God, given also to sovereigns and royal persons, and once to the Roman people and to images of saints.^[16] The titles Sua Majestade Fidelíssima for the kings of Portugal and Sua Majestade Católica for those of Spain are now obsolete.^[2] Derivatives followed: majestoso in the 17th century and majestático in 1801.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records; the Cantigas de Santa Maria have Majestade and Magestade.^[3][2][4]
• 1330 – the sense “object of worship”.^[4]
• 14th century – the spellings maiestade, maistade and magestade.^[2]
• c. 1400 – magestade in a Flos Sanctorum.^[17]
• 15th century – the spelling mayestade.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso heads the word magestade.^[5]
• 17th century – first record of majestoso.^[3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the title.^[16]
• 1801 – first record of majestático.^[3]
• 1813 – Morais prefers the spelling majestade.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Supreme greatness that commands respect and veneration; sublimity (sublimidade): a majestade do oceano.^[2][18][19]
2. Grandeur, imposing appearance: a majestade das montanhas.^[2][18]
3. A solemn, noble bearing.^[2][19]
4. Royal power; the dignity of a sovereign.^[19]
5. A title of kings, queens, emperors and empresses, usually capitalised: Sua Majestade, Vossa Majestade.^[2][19][1]
6. A sovereign.^[2]

Word family

• majestoso
• majestático

Related words

• maior
• magno
• máximo
• Latin maiestās
• Spanish majestad
• Galician maxestade

Usage notes

Morais (1813) notes that Vossa Majestade and Sua Majestade stay the same for a king or a queen, but adjectives and pronouns referring to them agree with the sex of the person.^[9] A crime against the sovereign is a crime de lesa-majestade.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. majestade
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. majestade
4. ^ 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. magestade
5. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. magestade
6. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. magestade
7. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 42
8. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. magestade
9. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 250
10. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. majestade
11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5246
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. māiestās
13. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. majestas
15. ^ 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. majestade
16. ^ 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. magestade
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. magestade
18. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. majestade
19. ^ a b c d 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. majestade
20. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. majestade