oferta

Forms

oferta f (plural ofertas)^[1] The medieval spellings were oferta and offerta.^[2][3] Offerta remained the heading in Cardoso (1569), Bluteau and Vieira, who refers oferta to it.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *offerta (“an offering”), written Old Galician-Portuguese offerta in the oldest texts.^[3][7][1] Nascentes and Aurélio explain the Latin word as a participle formed for classical oblāta, the feminine past participle of offerō (“to offer”).^[8][9] Houaiss takes it from Medieval Latin offerta “an offering made to God”, the noun use of the feminine of offertus, past participle of the Medieval Latin verb offeriō, an altered form of the classical verb.^[2] Niermeyer records the Medieval Latin word for the bread and wine brought to the altar at Mass and for the parish's income from such offerings.^[10]

The Latin verb is formed from ob- (“towards”) and ferō (“to carry”).^[1][11] The same noun is Spanish oferta, Catalan oferta and Italian offerta.^[1] García de Diego takes the Spanish word for a learned one, beside the popular Asturian ufierta “an offering for the dead”.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria tell of pilgrims who came sa offerta dar “to give their offering” and of a gran offerta promised to the Virgin.^[13][14] The Miragres de Santiago speak of the yearly oferta that a pilgrim brought to the apostle's church.^[14] In these first records it is a gift offered to God or a saint.^[13]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates to the 14th century the sense of the money given by the faithful at certain religious services.^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) still defines offerta as an oblation, a gift offered to God or the Church, and discusses when it is due.^[5] Vieira quotes Frei Gaspar da Cruz on sailors who painted the devil on the prow and made him ofertas so that he would not harm the ship.^[6]

The general sense “an offer” led to the commercial and economic ones: a price proposed by a buyer, the quantity of goods offered on a market (the economists' “supply”), and in Brazil a reduced price.^[2][9][15] In verse it names the closing stanza of a ballade, the envoi.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, spelt oferta and offerta; the Cantigas de Santa Maria have sa offerta dar.^[2][13]
• 14th century – the sense of a donation made at a religious service.^[2]
• c. 1430 – oferta in the Horto do Esposo.^[16]
• 1569 – Cardoso lists offerta as Latin oblatio.^[4]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as an oblation to God or the Church.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of offering or offering oneself; an offer.^[2][9][1]
2. Something offered; a gift, an offering (oferenda).^[2][9]
3. (religion) A donation made by the faithful at certain services; an offering to God or the saints.^[2][15]
4. (economics) supply: the quantity of goods or services offered on a market.^[2][1]
5. (Brazil) A reduced price; a bargain or sale: Os sapatos estavam em oferta.^[2][1]
6. A price or goods proposed by someone who wants to buy or exchange; a bid.^[2][1]
7. (versification) The closing stanza of a ballade, the envoi.^[2][9]

Word family

• ofertar

Related words

• oferecer
• oferenda
• ofertório
• Latin offerō

Usage notes

Lei da oferta e da procura is the law of supply and demand;^[2][15] oferta monetária is the money supply.^[2][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. oferta
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. oferta
4. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. offerta
5. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. offerta
6. ^ a b 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, 537
7. ^ 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. oferta
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. oferta
9. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. oferta
10. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. offerta
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. offerō
12. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. offerta
13. ^ a b c 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. offerta
14. ^ a b 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. oferta
15. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6643
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. oferta