parte

Forms

parte f (plural partes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pars (“part, share”), continued through its accusative partem, and written Old Galician-Portuguese parte since the 13th century.^[2][3][1]

The same Latin word is Galician parte, Spanish parte, Catalan part, French part, Italian parte and Romanian parte.^[4][1]

The Latin word continues *partis.^[1][5] De Vaan reports Schrijver's view that it was formed before Latin on the stem of pariō (“to bring forth”), with the original meaning “lot, portion, fate”.^[5] Wiktionary connects it instead with pār (“equal”) and portiō (“share”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *perh₂- (“to sell, exchange”); de Vaan holds that portiō is a secondary formation.^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's date of 1142 is a Latin charter with partem.^[2] The first Galician-Portuguese record is a charter of 1228, seyan taes de una parte e de outra “let them be such on the one side and on the other”, with parte for each party to a sale; the word recurs in charters from 1253 to 1275.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The Cantigas de Santa Maria already use the word for a share (duas partes leixa e di ben a terçeira “he leaves two parts and gives away the third”), for the parties to a dispute and for a side.^[6] In the love songs it often means “nothing” in negative sentences: nunca en parte soube mia senhor “my lady never knew anything of it”.^[7] The cantigas d'amigo have aver parte com alguem “to side with someone” and saber de si parte e mandado “to be in one's right mind”.^[6]

Barbosa (1611) lists em toda a parte “everywhere”, and Morais (1789) the parts of the body, the regions of the earth (as partes do Norte), a share and the parties to a lawsuit.^[8][9] In the plural the word means a person's qualities, in Brazil also whims and fussiness, and popularly the genitals.^[2][10][11]

Timeline

• 1142 – partem in a Latin charter.^[2]
• 1228 – de una parte e de outra in a charter.^[6]
• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria use parte for a share, a party and a side.^[6]
• 1380–1425 – the Flos Sanctorum fragment of Santiago is the oldest CTA text with the word.^[12]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates parte as pars.^[13]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists em toda a parte.^[8]
• 1789 – Morais records the senses “region” and “party to a lawsuit”.^[9]
• 1912 – Silva Bastos records the popular plural “genitals”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A part or portion of a whole: a parte de trás do carro.^[2][14][1]
2. A share of something divided: Os irmãos dividiram o terreno em três partes.^[2][14]
3. A division of a work.^[2][14]
4. The matter or point under discussion.^[2][14]
5. A place or region; a side: em toda a parte.^[2][15]
6. A role, duty or responsibility.^[2]
7. (law) A party to a contract or to a lawsuit.^[2][16][1]
8. A faction, a group with a common cause.^[2]
9. A notice or report; a formal complaint to the authorities: dar parte à polícia.^[2]
10. (music) The part of each voice or instrument in a composition.^[2][16]
11. (plural) A person's qualities or gifts;^[2][11] (Brazil) whims, fussiness.^[2][11]
12. (plural, popular) The genitals.^[10][11]

Word family

• partezinha

Related words

• partir
• partilha
• partícula
• aparte
• Latin pars
• Galician parte

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 p Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. parte
3. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. parte
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6254
5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. pars
6. ^ a b c d e 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. parte
7. ^ Lopes, Graça Videira; Ferreira, Manuel Pedro et al. (2011–), Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas [online database], Lisboa: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, FCSH/NOVA, https://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt, p. s.v. parte
8. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. parte
9. ^ 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, 161
10. ^ a b c Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. parte
11. ^ a b c d Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. parte
12. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. parte
13. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. parte
14. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. parte
15. ^ 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. parte
16. ^ 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. parte