ofender

Forms

ofender (first-person singular present ofendo, first-person singular preterite ofendi, past participle ofendido)^[1] Houaiss records the old spellings ofendeo (14th century), offender and ofeder (15th century).^[2] Cunha has offender in the 16th century, and Wiktionary still lists offender as an old variant.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin offendō (“to strike against; to offend”).^[2][3][4][1] Houaiss dates it to the 14th century from Cunha's medieval index, while Cunha's own dictionary puts the first record in the 16th century.^[2][3] The Galician medieval dictionary knows no example older than the 16th-century record that Machado gives.^[5] Corominas likewise treats the Spanish counterpart as a word taken from Latin.^[6]

The same Latin verb gave Galician ofender, Spanish ofender, Catalan ofendre, Old French offendre and Italian offendere.^[1] The Spanish verb is recorded from 1438.^[6]

The Latin verb is formed from ob- (“against”) and a simple verb *fendō (“to hit, thrust”) that survives only in compounds, as in dēfendō.^[7][1] Wiktionary traces it through Proto-Italic *fendō to Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to strike, kill”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date rests on a 14th-century record in Cunha's slips of medieval Portuguese.^[2] The Livro das tres vertudes, in a witness of after 1450, has the verb once.^[8] Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary of 1569 renders it with the Latin verb, so the first dictionary sense is the Latin one, “to strike against, hurt, offend”.^[9][7]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense “to wound, to harm” and the moral sense “to insult, to hurt someone's feelings” have lived side by side since the older language: the original Caldas Aulete quotes Jerónimo Osório on a good king who should rather defend his own people than harm his enemies, and Frei Luís de Sousa on posts held “to defend or to attack” in battle.^[10] Houaiss still lists the bodily sense first, followed by “to cause discomfort”, “to vex”, “to damage” and “to break (a silence)”.^[2]

The reflexive ofender-se “to take offence” and the religious sense “to sin against God” are recorded in the modern dictionaries.^[2][11][12] In Brazil the verb has also been used for “to rape”, and a Brazilian dialect survey records it for something that harms one's health, such as a cigarette.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, spelt ofendeo, according to Houaiss.^[2]
• after 1450 – the Livro das tres vertudes uses the verb.^[8]
• 1541 – offendeo in a private letter.^[14]
• 1569 – Cardoso enters Ofender and translates it with the Latin verb.^[9]
• 16th century – Cunha's first record, spelt offender.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To wound or injure physically; to strike or attack in combat.^[2][15]
2. (transitive) To offend, insult; to hurt someone's pride or feelings: As tuas palavras ofenderam o avô.^[2][16][1]
3. (transitive) To cause an unpleasant sensation in; to bother: A luz forte ofendia-lhe a vista.^[2][15]
4. (transitive) To damage or tear; to break the continuity of (a silence, a calm).^[2][15]
5. (transitive) To go against (a law, a rule, a custom); to transgress.^[2][11]
6. (transitive, religion) To sin against: Quem mente ofende a Deus.^[11][12]
7. (transitive, Brazil) To rape.^[2]
8. (reflexive) ofender-se: to take offence, to feel insulted or scandalized.^[2][16]

Related words

• ofensa
• ofensivo
• ofensor
• inofensivo
• defender
• Galician ofender

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ofender
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ofender
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ofender
5. ^ 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. ofender
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ofender
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. offendō
8. ^ a b Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. ofender
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. ofender
10. ^ 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. ofender
11. ^ a b c 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. ofender
12. ^ 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. ofender
13. ^ 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. ofender
14. ^ 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. ofender
15. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ofender
16. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ofender