nomear

Forms

nomear (first-person singular present nomeio, first-person singular preterite nomeei, past participle nomeado)^[1] Medieval texts also write nomiados (1257), numear and nomehey.^[2][3] Feijó (1734) records the spelling nomiar.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nōminō (“to name”), written Old Galician-Portuguese nomẽar in the oldest texts.^[3][2][1] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word, while Aurélio takes it as popular.^[5][6] The learned nominar is a doublet from the same Latin verb.^[1]

The same Latin verb is Galician nomear, Spanish nombrar, Catalan nomenar, French nommer and Italian nominare.^[7][8][1]

The Latin verb is derived from nōmen (“name”).^[9][1] De Vaan reconstructs the Indo-European noun as Proto-Indo-European *h₃neh₃-mn̥, Wiktionary as *h₁nómn̥.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the testament of Afonso II of 1214: os cinque bispos que suso nomeamos “the five bishops whom we named above”.^[2] Houaiss also dates the verb to the 13th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval senses were “to name, mention” and, reflexively, “to call out one's own name”: the Crónica Troiana has nomeauase muytas uezes en ferindo “he called out his name many times as he struck”.^[2] Houaiss dates “to call by name” and “to mention” to the 14th century.^[3] In Medieval Latin nominare already meant “to appoint”, and Bluteau gives nomear for appointing deputies and for naming a man to a bishopric.^[11][12] Morais (1789) has calling by name, declaring a name and electing to a post.^[13] In the dialects of Portugal the verb can also mean “to say” and “to recite (prayers)”.^[14]

Timeline

• 1214 – nomeamos in the testament of Afonso II.^[2]
• 1257 – nomiados in a charter.^[2]
• 14th century – Houaiss's first dates for “to call by name” and “to mention”.^[3]
• 1390–1437 – the Horto do Esposo uses the verb.^[15]
• 1556 – nomear in a private letter.^[16]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it with Latin nomino.^[17]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the sense “to appoint”.^[12]
• 1734 – Feijó gives the spelling nomiar.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To call by name; to say the name of: A professora nomeou os alunos um a um.^[3][6]
2. To mention or cite by name; to name publicly.^[3][18][1]
3. To name, give a name to.^[3][1]
4. To set up, institute (a committee or body).^[3][6]
5. To appoint someone to a post, office or dignity.^[3][19][1]
6. To choose by vote, elect.^[3][6][1]
7. To call, describe as; reflexive, to style oneself.^[3][20]
8. (regional, Portugal) To say; to recite (prayers).^[14]

Word family

• nomeação
• nomeado
• nomeador

Related words

• nome
• nominar
• Latin nōminō
• Spanish nombrar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. nomear
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. nomear
4. ^ a b 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. nomear
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. nomear
6. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. nomear
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5950
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. nominare
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. nōminō
10. ^ 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. nōmen
11. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. nominare
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. nomear
13. ^ 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, 118
14. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. nomear
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. nomear
16. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. nomear
17. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. nomear
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. nomear
19. ^ 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. nomear
20. ^ 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. nomear