ourives

Forms

ourives m or f by sense (invariable)^[1] Old Portuguese wrote ourivez and oryuez in the 13th century, oulyuiz and ouriujz in 1391, and the plural ouriuizes in the 15th century.^[2][3] Morais in 1789 notes that the word was the same in the singular and plural, while Resende wrote the plurals ourivis, ouriveis and ourivezes.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin aurifex (“goldsmith”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ourivez in the oldest texts.^[2][3][5][1] The Latin word is formed from aurum (“gold”) and -fex (“maker”), the agent form of faciō (“to make, do”).^[6][2][7] The learned aurífice is a doublet.^[1]

The same Latin word is Galician ourive, Old Spanish orebze, Spanish orespe, Italian orefice and Italian orafo; Mirandese ouribeiro is a derivative.^[8][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century: the heading of cantiga 362 tells how Holy Mary restored the sight of un ourivez en Chartes, a goldsmith of Chartres.^[11][2] A text of 1188–1230 in the Leges already has the plural orebzes.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense of a craftsman in gold and silver, and its derivative ourivesaria, the craft and the workshop, is recorded from 1392.^[12] The Leal Conselheiro of the 15th century writes E assy como os ouriveses querendo conhecer algũu ouro “and just as goldsmiths, wishing to know some gold”.^[9] Morais in 1789 cites rua dos ourives, the street of the goldsmiths, and the phrases ourives do oiro and ourives da prata.^[4] Today it also means a seller and repairer of jewellery, and the DLP records it for the shop itself and for a kind of mullet common off Nazaré.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1188–1230 – the plural orebzes in the Leges.^[9]
• 13th century – ourivez in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[11][3]
• 1391 – oulyuiz and ouriujz.^[2]
• 1392 – ouriujzaria, the craft of the goldsmith.^[12]
• 15th century – ouriveses in the Leal Conselheiro; the derivative ourevyzeiros.^[9][2]
• 1617 – oirives in a private letter.^[14]
• 1789 – Morais notes the invariable plural ourives.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A goldsmith or silversmith; a craftsman in precious metals.^[2][15][1]
2. A person who sells or repairs articles of gold and silver; a jeweller.^[2][16]
3. A jeweller's shop.^[13]
4. (zoology) A kind of mullet (tainha) common in the sea off Nazaré.^[13]

Word family

• ourivesaria

Related words

• ouro
• aurífice
• Latin aurifex
• Galician ourive

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ourives
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ouro
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, 142
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ourives
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. aurifex
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. aurifex
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. aurifex
9. ^ a b c d e Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 370
10. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. ourive
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. ourivez
12. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ourivesaria
13. ^ 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. ourives
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. ourives
15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ourives
16. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ourives