particular

Forms

particular m or f (plural particulares, comparable, comparative mais particular, superlative o mais particular or particularíssimo)^[1] Fifteenth-century texts also have particolares and partycullares.^[2][3] A popular variant praticular has been recorded in Portugal.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin particulāris (“of a part, partial”), an imperial Latin adjective, written Old Galician-Portuguese particular in the oldest texts.^[2][5][6][1] Houaiss and Cunha date it to the 15th century.^[2][5]

The same Latin word gave Galician particular and Spanish particular.^[7][8]

The Latin adjective is formed from particula (“small part”) with -āris,^[1][9] and that noun is a diminutive of pars (“part”).^[10][11] Medieval Latin used it for “particular” and “partial”.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

R. Lorenzo's earliest records are Galician legal formulas pairing it with general: a document of 1441, known from a copy of 1484, names suçesores generales e particulares “general and particular successors”, and one of 1448 herdeyros, asy generales como particolares “heirs, both general and particular”.^[3] The first sense is thus “individual, specific”, opposed to “general”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it as what is proper to a person or thing, and notes that as a relative term it is opposed to the genus and the universal.^[13] Folqman (1755) records em particular “privately, apart”, and Morais (1813) has the noun um particular “a man without public office”, the plural os particulares “particulars, details”, and neste particular “in this matter”.^[14][15] The sense “private, not public” (casa particular, professor particular) is in the old Aulete.^[16]

Today it also means “private, not belonging to the state”, as in schools and hospitals paid for by their users.^[16][1] Brazilian Portuguese uses the noun for a private conversation, and in Rio Grande do Sul for a confidential matter or a note about one.^[2][17] Cunha dates particularidade and particularizar to the 16th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1441 – suçesores generales e particulares in a Galician document (copy of 1484).^[3]
• 1448 – particolares in another Galician document.^[3]
• 1496 – used in the Regimento proveitoso contra a pestenença.^[18]
• 16th century – first records of particularidade and particularizar.^[5]
• 1542 – particulares in a private letter.^[19]
• 1755 – Folqman records em particular “privately”.^[14]
• 1813 – Morais records the noun um particular “a man without public office”.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Proper to certain beings or things; peculiar, characteristic: um sabor muito particular.^[2][20]
2. For one person's exclusive use; private: motorista particular.^[2][20][1]
3. Not belonging to the state; privately run: escola particular.^[16][21][1]
4. Out of the ordinary; remarkable, rare.^[2][20][1]
5. Reserved, confidential, personal: uma conversa particular.^[2]
6. Done with great care; detailed, meticulous.^[2]
7. (logic) Applying to some members of a class but not to all.^[2]

Noun

1. What is singular or individual, as opposed to the general.^[2]
2. A particular matter or point: neste particular.^[2][15]
3. A private individual, someone holding no public office.^[2][21]
4. A personal quirk or mania.^[2][21]
5. (Brazil) A private conversation.^[2][21]
6. (in the plural) details; also things that must be kept secret.^[2]

Word family

• particularidade
• particularizar
• particularização

Related words

• partícula
• parte
• Latin particulāris
• Spanish particular

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 q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. particular
3. ^ 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. particular
4. ^ 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. particular
5. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. particular
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 383
7. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. particular
8. ^ 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. particular
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. particularis
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. particula
12. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. particularis
13. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. particular
14. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. particular
15. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 402
16. ^ a b c 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. particular
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. particular
18. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. particular
19. ^ 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. particular
20. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. particular
21. ^ 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. particular