orlar

Forms

orlar (first-person singular present orlo, first-person singular preterite orlei, past participle orlado)^[1]

Etymology

Houaiss and Cunha take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *orulō, a verb made on *orulus, a diminutive of Latin ōra (“edge, border”).^[2][3] Houaiss calls this derivation probable.^[2] The REW sets up the same Vulgar Latin verb, “to hem”, for Italian orlare, French ourler, Spanish orlar and the Portuguese verb.^[4]

Nascentes, the Aurélio, the DLP and Porto Editora instead make it a formation from Portuguese orla + -ar, the noun orla being from *orula;^{[5][6][7][8][1]} Wiktionary gives both explanations.^{[5][6][7][8][1]} Cunha dates the noun and the verb to the same century.^[3]

The Old Spanish relative of the noun is Spanish orilla (“edge, shore”), a Romance diminutive of the same Latin noun.^[9] The OLD takes the Latin noun as a collective formed on ōs (“mouth”), while Wiktionary calls its origin unknown and compares Hittite erḫaš (“line, boundary”).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology cites the Latin participle orlatum in a document of 1169: xamite orlatum de cebelinis “samite edged with sable”.^[11] Cunha dates the Portuguese verb to the 16th century.^[3] Houaiss's first record is the participle orlada in 1616, in a work he cites as Altanaria.^[2] Morais quotes an Arte da Caça for falcons whose spots are orlada de amarello “edged with yellow”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a tailor's one: Bluteau sends the reader to abainhar “to hem”, and Morais defines it as hemming or binding the edge of a garment so that it does not fray, or for ornament.^[13][14] Bluteau's orlado already applies it figuratively to coats of arms and to the edges of feathers and fur.^[15] The modern dictionaries add the senses “to line the edge of” and “to surround”, used of trees along a road or lights round a square, and figuratively “to crown with glory”.^[2][16] Coin minting uses it for raising the rim of a blank, and the fishermen of Monte Gordo for edging a net with a band of coarser mesh.^[7][17]

Timeline

• 1169 – the Latin participle orlatum in a document.^[11]
• 16th century – first record of the Portuguese verb, according to Cunha.^[3]
• 1616 – the participle orlada, in a work Houaiss cites as Altanaria.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists orlar and orlado.^[13][15]
• 1734 – Feijó defines it as trimming with a border.^[18]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as hemming a garment.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To edge, hem or trim with a border: orlou a toalha com renda.^[2][19][1]
2. (transitive and reflexive) To line the edge of; to run along a border: Ciprestes orlam o caminho.^[2][6]
3. (transitive) To surround, to be arranged around.^[2][20]
4. (transitive and reflexive) To draw around, to frame.^[2]
5. (figurative) To adorn, to crown with glory or fame.^[2][20]
6. (numismatics) To raise the rim of a coin blank before it is struck.^[7]

Word family

• orlado

Related words

• orla
• ourela
• Latin ōra
• Spanish orlar
• Italian orlare

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. orlar
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. orlar
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. *orulare
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. orlar
6. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. orlar
7. ^ 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. orlar
8. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6741
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 297
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ōra
11. ^ 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. orlar
12. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 372
13. ^ 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. orlar
14. ^ a b 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, 139
15. ^ 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. orlado
16. ^ 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. orlar
17. ^ 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. orlar
18. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. orlar
19. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. orlar
20. ^ 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. orlar