objeto

Forms

objeto m (plural objetos)^[1] Houaiss records objecto, obiecto and ogeito in the 15th century, and Cunha objecto and objeito in the 16th.^[2][3] Objecto remained the spelling in Portugal until the 1990 orthographic agreement and is still listed as a variant.^[1][4]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing from Latin, but the sources name different Latin words.^[5][1] According to Cunha and Aurélio it is borrowed from Medieval Latin objectum, the noun of the scholastics.^[3][6] Houaiss gives the classical noun obiectus (“a placing before; obstacle”), and Wiktionary the same word taken as the past participle of obiciō (“to throw before, to put in the way”).^[2][1]

The classical noun is formed from that verb with the suffix -tus, and meant “the act of placing something in the way”.^[7] The verb is formed from ob (“against”) and iaciō (“to throw”).^[1] Nascentes explains the sense as “that which is thrown before (the eyes)”, a thing offered to the sight, which then became “any thing”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date is a 15th-century record from Cunha's slips of medieval Portuguese, with the spellings objecto, obiecto and ogeito.^[2] Cunha's dictionary dates the word to the 16th century.^[2][3] Cunha gives “thing, matter, aim” as its senses.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) notes that the word has many senses and defines it as whatever presents itself to the senses or to the faculties of the soul as the target of their operations: the object of the understanding is what one thinks about, the object of the will what one wants.^[8] Morais (1789) defines it in the same way.^[4] The original Caldas Aulete adds “an article for sale” and “the matter of a contract”, quoting the Portuguese civil code for the latter.^[9]

Modern dictionaries add the senses of philosophy, law, grammar (the direct and indirect object), mathematics, optics and computing.^[2][9][1]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records, spelt objecto, obiecto and ogeito.^[2]
• 16th century – Cunha's first record, with the variant objeito.^[3]
• 1712 – Bluteau enters objecto with its senses in philosophy.^[8]
• 1749 – objecto in a private letter.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais defines objecto.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A material thing that can be perceived by the senses; an object.^[2][6][1]
2. That towards which a thought, feeling or action is directed: objeto de desejo.^[2][9][1]
3. The subject (assunto) or matter of a study, a science or a conversation.^[2][6]
4. A motive or cause: Aquela herança foi objeto de longas brigas.^[2][6]
5. An article of trade; merchandise (mercadoria).^[2][9]
6. An aim or purpose; the same as objetivo.^[2][11]
7. (philosophy) What is apprehended by knowledge, as opposed to the knowing subject (sujeito).^[2][6]
8. (law) That on which a right, an obligation or a contract bears.^[2]
9. (grammar) The complement of a transitive verb: objeto direto, objeto indireto.^[9][1]
10. (computing) An instance of a class in object-oriented programming.^[1]

Word family

• objeto direto
• objeto indireto

Related words

• objetividade
• objetivo
• objetar
• objeção
• Latin obiciō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. objeto
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. objeto
4. ^ a b c 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, 124
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. objeto
6. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. objeto
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. obiectus
8. ^ 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. objecto
9. ^ a b c d e 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. objeto
10. ^ 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. objeto
11. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. objeto