oportuno

Forms

oportuno (feminine oportuna, masculine plural oportunos, feminine plural oportunas)^[1] The older spelling was opportuno, that of the first record, of Bluteau and of Morais;^[2][3][4][1] Wiktionary lists it as obsolete.^[2][3][4][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin opportūnus (“convenient, suitable”), first recorded before 1587 in the old spelling with double p.^[2][5][1] Nascentes calls it a learned word.^[6]

The Latin adjective is probably formed from ob- (“towards”) and portus (“harbour”), and was first a sailors' word for a wind or current that carries a ship towards the harbour.^[7][8][9] Houaiss instead links it with Portūnus, the god of harbours.^[2] The OLD compares importūnus.^[7]

The same Latin word is Spanish oportuno, Galician oportuno and Italian opportuno, and French opportun was taken from it in 1355.^{[10][11][1][12]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, from before 1587, has the spelling opportuno;^[2][5] Cunha dates the feminine opportuna to the 16th century.^[2][5] The sense was already the general one, “coming at the right time, fitting”, which the Latin word had in classical prose.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines opportuno as suitable, favourable, fitted to the time, and quotes tempo opportuno.^[3] Morais (1789) gives “coming or done at the right time, when it is fitting”, with examples of help, rain, and a time and place fit for dressing wounds.^[4] The modern dictionaries keep these senses and add that of a person who says or does the right thing at the right moment.^[13][2]

From the adjective come the negative inoportuno, recorded in 1873 as inopportuno, and in the 19th century oportunismo and oportunista.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1587 – first record, spelt opportuno.^[2]
• 16th century – Cunha's date for the word, with the form opportuna.^[5]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines opportuno.^[3]
• 1789 – Morais heads the word opportuno.^[4]
• 1873 – Cunha's first record of inopportuno.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. opportune: coming or done at the right time or to the purpose; appropriate: Escolheu um momento oportuno para falar.^{[2][14][9][1]}
2. convenient, favourable, fit for a purpose: uma ocasião oportuna para viajar.^[2][14][15]
3. Bringing an advantage; useful.^[2]
4. Of a person: saying or doing what suits the moment.^[13]

Word family

• inoportuno
• oportunismo
• oportunista

Related words

• oportunidade
• importuno
• porto
• Latin opportūnus
• Spanish oportuno

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. oportuno
3. ^ a b c d Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. opportuno
4. ^ a b c d 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, 135
5. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. oportuno
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. oportuno
7. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. opportūnus
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 366
9. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. oportuno
10. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. oportuno
11. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. oportuno
12. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. opportun
13. ^ a b 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. oportuno
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. oportuno
15. ^ 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. oportuno