político

Forms

político (feminine política, masculine plural políticos, feminine plural políticas)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling polytico in the 15th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin polīticus (“concerning civil government, political”), taken as a learned word.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πολιτικός (politikós, “of or for citizens; of the state”),^[5][6] formed from πολίτης (polī́tēs, “citizen”) with the adjective suffix -ικός (-ikós), and the citizen is named from πόλις (pólis, “city, state”).^[1][7]

The same Latin word gave Spanish político, recorded from the middle of the 15th century, French politique, first used by Oresme in 1365, and Italian politico.^[8][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the adjective to the 15th century from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese, with the sense “relating to politics, to the affairs of state”.^[2] Cunha also dates it to the 15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) uses it for what concerns government and for the homem politico who knows the laws of politics, and as a noun for a man who knows how to adapt himself to the times.^[9] Morais (1789) adds “urbane, civil”, as in sociedade politica.^[10] The sense “polite, courteous” lives on beside “shrewd, crafty”, and Houaiss dates the noun “politician”, a person holding public office or active in politics, to 1873.^[2][11]

Familiarly, estar político com alguém means to be on bad terms with someone and not speak to them.^[12][13] Regional speech in Portugal uses it for “well-spoken”, with a variant pelíteco.^[14] Tetum borrowed it as polítiku.^[1]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records, also spelt polytico.^[2][3]
• 1680 – politico in a private letter.^[15]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the noun for a man who adapts himself to the times.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais adds the sense “urbane, civil”.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from Latin politicus.^[16]
• 1873 – first record of the noun “politician”.^[2]
• 1899 – first record of the derivative politiqueiro.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. political: relating to política, to government or to party politics: Atravessam uma grave crise política.^[2][11][1]
2. Relating to public affairs, or to cidadania, citizenship.^[2][11]
3. Tactful and diplomatic in handling delicate matters; prudent in practical things.^[2][12]
4. polite, courteous.^[11][13]
5. (figurative) Crafty, astute.^[11][13]
6. (informal) On bad terms with someone, not on speaking terms.^[13][17]

Noun

1. A politician: a person who holds public office or is active in politics; a statesman.^[2][18][1]
2. (figurative) A shrewd, crafty person.^[11]

Word family

• política
• apolítico
• politicagem
• politiqueiro
• politizar

Related words

• Spanish político

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. político
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. político
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. político
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. polīticus
6. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. πολιτικός
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. politique
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 598
9. ^ 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. politico
10. ^ 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, 213
11. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. político
12. ^ a b 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. político
13. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. político
14. ^ 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. político
15. ^ 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. político
16. ^ 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, 828
17. ^ 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. político
18. ^ 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. político