presente

Forms

presente m or f (plural presentes, not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin praesēns (“present, at hand”), written Old Galician-Portuguese presente in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Nascentes counts it as a learned word.^[4] The Latin adjective is the present participle of praesum (“to be in front, be at the head of”), from prae- (“before”) and sum (“to be”).^[5][6]

Carolina Michaëlis explained the noun “gift” as a noun formed from the old verb Old Galician-Portuguese presentar, itself from the adjective.^[7] Nascentes takes the gift as a thing one makes present to someone, as a sign of gratitude or to please.^[4]

The same Latin word is Galician presente, Spanish presente, Catalan present, French présent, Italian presente and Romanian prezent.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

R. Lorenzo's chronology quotes quin erã presentes “who were present”, among the witnesses of a document of 1242–1252, and qui presentes foron in 1254.^[7] The cantigas use the noun for a gift, as in nunca tan bel presente recebeu “never did he receive so fine a present”, and the adjective for someone in another's presence.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the adjective “present in person” and the noun “gift” to the 13th century, the adjective “current, of now” to the 14th and the noun “the present time” to the 15th.^[2] The Crónica Troiana has the gifts that kings sent to one another.^[7]

Cardoso (1569) glosses the adjective as Latin praesens, while Pereira (1697) gives only the gift, Latin munus and xenium.^[9][10] Morais (1813) records de presente and ao presente “now, at this time”.^[11] The grammatical sense, the tense of the present, is in the dictionaries of the late 19th century and today.^[12][2]

In modern use presente! is the answer at a roll-call.^[13][14] In Bahia the word names the offering made to Iemanjá on certain beaches.^[15]

Timeline

• 1242–1252 – quin erã presentes in a document.^[7]
• 13th century – first record of the noun “gift”.^[2]
• 14th century – the adjective “current”.^[2]
• c. 1400 – presente in a fragment of the Flos Sanctorum from Santiago de Compostela.^[16]
• 15th century – the noun “the present time”.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it as Latin praesens.^[9]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it as Latin munus, a gift.^[10]
• 1813 – Morais records de presente “now”.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. present; being in the place where something happens at a given moment: Todos os alunos estavam presentes.^[2][17][1]
2. (figurative) Attentive, involved; always at hand: um pai muito presente.^[2][13]
3. current, existing or happening now: o presente momento.^[2][17][1]
4. (figurative) Evident, manifest; kept in the mind or memory.^[2][17][18]
5. About to happen; imminent.^[2][19]
6. (grammar) Of a tense, expressing an action taking place now.^[2][19]

Noun

1. A gift; something given to someone: Recebeu muitos presentes no Natal.^[2][13][1]
2. (figurative) Anything granted to someone; a gift, a blessing.^[2]
3. The present time, between the past and the future.^[2][13][1]
4. (grammar) The present tense.^[2][13]
5. (in the plural) The people present in a place.^[2][13]

Interjection

1. here: the answer at a roll call.^[13][14]

Word family

• presentemente
• presentear

Related words

• presença
• apresentar
• Latin praesēns
• Galician presente

Usage notes

Presente de grego “a Greek gift” is a present that brings its receiver harm or trouble.^[2] Presente histórico is the present tense used to narrate past events.^[2][13]

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 m n o p q r s Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. presente
3. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. presente
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. presente
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. praesens
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. présent
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. presente
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. presente
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. presente
10. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. presente
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 496
12. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. presente
13. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. presente
14. ^ a b Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. presente
15. ^ Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. presente
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. presente
17. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. presente
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. presente
19. ^ 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. presente