novo

Forms

novo (feminine nova, masculine plural novos, feminine plural novas, comparable, comparative mais novo, superlative o mais novo or novíssimo, metaphonic)^[1] The feminine is nova;^[2][1] Houaiss records the spelling nouo in the 14th century.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin novus (“new”), written Old Galician-Portuguese novo in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1]

The same Latin word is Galician novo, Spanish nuevo, Catalan nou, Occitan nòu, French neuf, Italian nuovo and Romanian nou.^[5][6][1]

The Latin word goes back to *nowos and to Proto-Indo-European *néwos (“new”).^[1] De Vaan gives the root as “new, young”, with cognates such as νέος (néos), नव (náva), *novъ and nīewe, the source of English new;^[7][1] Gothic and Celtic continue a variant with a further suffix.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's earliest date, 1141, is the feminine nova in a Latin charter.^[2] In Galician-Portuguese the adjective is recorded from the 13th century in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, which speak of a cantiga nova, a new song, and of a silver vessel nov'e bronido, new and polished.^[8][3] The sense “young, fresh” appears in the Crónica Troiana, where teeth grow and bodies are made novos.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The medieval language already used novo for things lately made and for young people: Universo Cantigas glosses both “made or used recently” and “young, of few years”.^[9] As a noun o novo meant the year's new crops and produce, a sense the DDGM records in the notarial books of Rianjo, which Morais (1813) marks as antiquated and which survives in Houaiss's “the coming harvest” and “the coming year”.^[8][10][2] The feminine nova “piece of news” and novidade are recorded from the 13th century.^[3]

Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 has de novo “again”, and Bluteau lists casas novas, palavras novas and poetas novos for modern poets.^[11][12] In the plural os novos are the young, and the writers and artists of the latest generation.^[2][13]

The word passed into the creoles: nobu in Kabuverdianu and Guinea-Bissau Creole, nobo in Papiamentu.^[1]

Timeline

• 1141 – a Latin charter has the feminine nova.^[2]
• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria speak of a cantiga nova;^[8][3] nova “news” and novidade are recorded.^[8][3]
• 14th century – the spelling nouo.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists de novo “again”.^[11]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives poetas novos for modern poets.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais marks the noun novo “new crop” as antiquated.^[10]
• 1912 – Silva Bastos records the plural novos for writers and artists who are starting out.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. new, recently born or come into being; that has existed only a short time: uma árvore nova.^[2][14][1]
2. young, of few years: Ele ainda é muito novo para conduzir.^[2][14][1]
3. Younger than another;^[2] o mais novo, the youngest of brothers or sisters.^[2]
4. That marks the beginning of a cycle or process: uma nova fase.^[2][15]
5. Little or never used; lately bought: sapatos novos.^[2][16][1]
6. Seen or thought of for the first time; original, of a fresh kind.^[2][17][1]
7. Current, modern; that replaces something out of date.^[2][18]
8. Changed in form or look from what it was before; renewed.^[2][17]
9. Without experience; a beginner, novato.^[2][18]
10. Lately arrived in a place or lately joined to a group: um aluno novo.^[2][16]
11. (of wine) Not yet matured.^[2]

Noun

1. (masculine) What is new or recent: o medo do novo.^[2][16][1]
2. The coming year; the next harvest.^[2][13]
3. (in the plural) The young; the writers and artists of the newest generation.^[2][13]
4. A newcomer to a workplace or a group.^[16]

Word family

• nova
• novamente
• novato
• novidade
• renovar

Related words

• noviço
• novel
• Latin novus
• Spanish nuevo

Usage notes

De novo means “again”, and pagar o novo e o velho is to be punished for recent and old faults together.^[2][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. novo
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. novo
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. novo
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. novus
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. novus
7. ^ 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
8. ^ 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. novo
9. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. novo
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 350
11. ^ a b c Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. novo
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. novo
13. ^ a b c d Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. novo
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. novo
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. novo
16. ^ 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. novo
17. ^ a b 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. novo
18. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6567