presidir

Forms

presidir (first-person singular present presido, first-person singular preterite presidi, past participle presidido)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praesideō (“to sit in front; to guard, preside over”), recorded from the 15th century.^[2][1] Nascentes counts it a semi-learned word.^[3]

The Latin verb is formed from prae- (“in front”) and sedeō (“to sit”).^[4][1][5] In Latin it meant to keep watch over or protect, and to be at the head of something.^[4][2] Medieval Latin used it for holding the office of a count or the see of a bishop.^[6]

The same Latin word is Spanish presidir, first recorded in 1607, Galician presidir and French présider.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the verb to the 15th century from the slips of Cunha's medieval index, without a quotation.^[2] The first dictionary to list it, Cardoso's of 1569, glosses it only with the Latin verb.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) notes that the Latin verb takes the dative, as in praesidere urbi.^[9] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines presidir as having the first place in a junta, and presidir em humas conclusoens as presiding over the defence of academic theses.^[10] Vieira gives the same “first place in an assembly or court”.^[11] The old dictionary of Caldas Aulete has it with a or em, both for keeping order in a meeting and for overseeing a work or guiding something, as a principle may preside over a life.^[12]

Today it is used both with a direct object and with a: presidir o país and presidir a uma empresa.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 15th century – first date in Houaiss.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses presidir with Latin praesideo.^[8]
• 1611 – Barbosa notes the Latin construction with the dative.^[9]
• 1692 – prezide in a private letter.^[14]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau: “to have the first place in a junta”.^[10]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses it with Latin praesidere and praeesse.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive or with a) To head as president; to direct, govern: presidir uma associação.^{[2][13][16][1]}
2. (transitive or with a) To chair a meeting or debate; to hold the place of honour at a ceremony.^[12][5][17]
3. To oversee, superintend: presidir às obras.^[16][18]
4. (figurative) To guide, rule or determine the course of something: a razão preside às suas escolhas.^[2][13][5]

Related words

• presidente
• presidência
• presídio
• Latin praesideō
• Spanish presidir

Usage notes

Both constructions are standard: presidir a sessão and presidir à sessão.^[12][13] An older use with em (presidir em uma sessão) is still recorded by Michaelis and the old Caldas Aulete.^[18][12]

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. presidir
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. presidir
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. praesideō
5. ^ a b c 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. presidir
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. praesidere
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. presidir
8. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. presidir
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. presidir
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. presidir
11. ^ 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, 920
12. ^ 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. presidir
13. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. presidir
14. ^ 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. presidir
15. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. presidir
16. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. presidir
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7452
18. ^ 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. presidir