poesia

Forms

poesia f (plural poesias)^[1] The 15th century wrote poesia and poesya.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin poēsis (“poetry, a poem”), which is from Ancient Greek ποίησις (poíēsis, “making, creation; poetry”).^[2][3][1][4] The Greek noun is formed from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make”) with the suffix -σις (-sis).^[1][5] According to Machado, as Houaiss reports, the word came through Italian poesia, used by Dante;^[2][6][7][8] Porto Editora also derives it through Italian, and Aurélio explains the ending as the suffix -ia.^[2][6][7][8]

The same Greek word through Latin is French poésie, which Wiktionary takes from Late Latin poēsia, and Spanish poesía, which the DLE thinks may come from French.^[1][9] Nocentini notes that the Italian word spread to the other European languages.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to the 15th century, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese, in the spellings poesia and poesya.^[2] Cunha dates it to the 16th century, with the senses “art of writing in verse” and “what awakens the feeling of beauty”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Cardoso (1569) renders it with Latin poema, and Barbosa (1611) with poema, poesis and ars poetica.^[11][12] Bluteau's book of synonyms calls it “prose with harmony” and “sounding painting”.^[13] Morais (1789) defines it as the description or painting of nature in a harmonious, metrical style, unlike prose, and also as a poem and the art of making verse.^[14]

Vieira (1871–1874) lists the genres (poesia épica, lírica, dramática) and the figurative use for whatever is elevated and moving in a work of art, a person's beauty or nature.^[15] The old Caldas Aulete has the plural for short poems, as in um livro de poesias.^[16] In the 20th century the Brazilian poesia concreta named an experimental movement of the 1950s.^[17][16]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records, as poesia and poesya.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it with Latin poema.^[11]
• 1611 – Barbosa adds poesis and ars poetica.^[12]
• 1789 – Morais defines it against prose.^[14]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the genres and the figurative sense.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The art of composing or writing verse; poetry.^[2][8][1]
2. A composition in verse expressing feelings, ideas or impressions, usually through images, as opposed to prosa.^[2][4]
3. A short poem: Decorou uma poesia para a festa da escola.^[2][8][16]
4. The poetry of a poet, a people or a period: a poesia barroca portuguesa.^[2][17][16]
5. Creative power; inspiration.^[2][8]
6. What is moving or elevating in things or people; charm: a poesia de uma tarde de outono.^[2][8][7]

Related words

• poeta
• poema
• poético
• poética
• Latin poēsis
• Spanish poesía

Usage notes

In Brazilian popular poetry poesia-de-sete is a stanza of seven lines of seven syllables rhyming ABCBDDB.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. poesia
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. poesia
4. ^ a b 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. poesia
5. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. ποίησις
6. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli, p. s.v. poesia
7. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7285
8. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. poesia
9. ^ 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. poesía
10. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. poesia
11. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. poesia
12. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. poesia
13. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. poesia
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, 211
15. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 824
16. ^ a b c d 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. poesia
17. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. poesia
18. ^ 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. poesia