mesclar

Forms

mesclar (first-person singular present mesclo, first-person singular preterite mesclei, past participle mesclado)^[1] Old forms: miscrar, mizcrar and mezcrar in the 13th century, mezclar in the 14th, mesclauom “they mixed” in the 15th, and mescar in 1798.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *misculō (“to mix”), written Old Galician-Portuguese miscrar and Old Galician-Portuguese mezcrar in the oldest texts and Old Galician-Portuguese mezclar in the 14th century.^[2][3][1] Cunha calls the Latin verb an iterative of Latin misceō (“to mix”).^[3] Houaiss, Nascentes and Aurélio build it on Late Latin presents made from the perfect miscuī.^[2][4][5] Nascentes adds that Brachet found the verb in a letter of Hincmar of 859.^[6]

The same verb is Spanish mezclar, Catalan mesclar, French mêler and Italian mischiare.^[1][7] The REW, however, takes the Portuguese and Spanish verbs from the Catalan one, a view Nascentes reports beside the inherited one.^[7][6] The older Portuguese spellings with ⟨cr⟩ gave way to ⟨cl⟩, and the form mesclar is recorded from the 15th century.^[2][3]

The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic *mi(k)skō, from Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ- (“to mix”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 13th century.^[2][3] Cunha records an old sense “to set people at odds, to stir up intrigue” beside “to mix”.^[3] The Galician Crónica Troiana has it in that sense: se algun queria mezclar algun seu amigo con el Rey “if anyone wanted to set a friend of his against the King”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The noun mescla (mezcra in the 13th century, mezcla and miscla in the 14th) and mesclamento (14th century) follow the verb.^[3] Bluteau's dictionary uses the verb for mixing liquors and colours, and also of people, quoting a book that speaks of Catholics in Germany “mixed with heretics”.^[9] Morais (1813) gives the mixing of wools of different colours or of threads in weaving, and the figurative “mixing Trojan blood with Latin” by marriage.^[10] The modern dictionaries keep these senses: blending things, styles or colours, mixing peoples through marriage, and inserting one thing among others.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, spelt miscrar and mezcrar.^[2][3]
• 14th century – mezclar; the noun mezcla.^[3]
• 15th century – mesclauom “they mixed”.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau: mixing liquors and colours, and people.^[9]
• 1798 – the spelling mescar.^[2]
• 1813 – Morais: mixing wools and threads; mixing blood by marriage.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira defines it as mixing different things.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (also pronominal) To mix, blend or combine different things: A cozinha dela mescla sabores do Norte e do Sul.^[2][12]
2. To mix colours or paints to obtain a new shade.^[5][13]
3. (also pronominal) To mix peoples or lineages through marriage; to interbreed (miscigenar).^[2][14]
4. To intersperse, insert one thing among others: mesclar a conversa de piadas.^[2][15]
5. (pronominal) To mingle with, become part of a group: mesclou-se aos convidados.^[2]

Word family

• mescla
• mesclado

Related words

• misturar
• imiscível
• Latin misceō
• Spanish mezclar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. mesclar
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. mesclar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. mesclar
5. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. mesclar
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. 328
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5606
8. ^ 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. mezclar
9. ^ 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. mesclar
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 293
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. 4, 215
12. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. mesclar
13. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6108
14. ^ 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. mesclar
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. mesclar