paz

Forms

paz f (plural pazes)^[1] Houaiss records the 15th-century spellings paaz and pax.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pax (“peace”), written Old Galician-Portuguese paz in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1]

The same Latin word is Galician paz, Spanish paz, Catalan pau, Occitan patz, French paix, Italian pace and Romanian pace.^[5][1]

The Latin noun belongs with pacīscor (“to agree”) and pactum (“agreement”), from *pāk- and Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“agreement; to join”).^[6][1] De Vaan relates to it the Germanic verbs for “to catch” and “to join”, such as Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (fāhan).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's earliest date, 1145, comes from a Latin document quoted by Machado.^[2] In the Cantigas de Santa Maria the word is already the peace of God and of men: the angels sing paz en terra dada “peace given on earth”, and the Virgin makes enemies fazer paz and forgive one another.^[7] In a cantiga of Alfonso X estad' en paz means “keep quiet”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The medieval language already had the main senses: the absence of war, concord between people, and inner calm; the troubadours used en paz e en guerra to mean “always”.^[7][8] Barbosa (1611) records fazer pazes “to make peace”, and Bluteau distinguishes the peace of a kingdom, of families and of the soul.^[9][10] In the Catholic liturgy paz names the kiss of peace at Mass, the paten, and the relic or image given to be kissed.^[11] Set phrases include paz podre “a false or stagnant peace” and juiz de paz “justice of the peace”;^[2][12][13] paz-de-alma is an easy-going, harmless person.^[2][12][13]

Timeline

• 1145 – Houaiss's date for the word, from a Latin document.^[2]
• 13th century – paz in the Cantigas de Santa Maria and the cantigas of Alfonso X.^[7][3]
• 15th century – the spellings paaz and pax.^[2]
• 1416 – first record in the CTA, in the Vida do Cativo Monge Confesso.^[14]
• 1611 – Barbosa records fazer pazes.^[9]
• 1712 – Bluteau describes the peace of a kingdom, of families and of the soul.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as the state opposed to war, harmony in a family and calm of mind.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. Concord, harmony between people who are not in conflict: Os irmãos vivem em paz.^[2][16][1]
2. Public order and tranquillity, the absence of violence in a society.^[2][17]
3. The state of a country that is not at war (guerra); the end of hostilities by a treaty: negociar a paz.^[2][13][1]
4. Inner calm, peace of mind: paz de espírito.^[2][16]
5. Quiet, stillness of a place or moment.^[2][12]
6. (in the plural) Reconciliation: fazer as pazes.^[9][11]
7. (Catholicism) The kiss of peace at Mass; the paten; a relic or image given to be kissed.^[11]

Word family

• apaziguar
• apaziguamento
• apaziguador

Related words

• pacífico
• pacificar
• pacato
• Latin pax
• Galician paz

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 k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. paz
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. paz
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. paz
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. pax
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d 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. paz
8. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. paz
9. ^ a b c Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. paz
10. ^ 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. paz
11. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. paz
12. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6989
13. ^ a b c 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. paz
14. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. paz
15. ^ 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, 172
16. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. paz
17. ^ 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. paz