pretor

Forms

pretor m (plural pretores)^[1] The o is closed (/ô/), and Bluteau wrote pretôr.^[1][2] Porto Editora transcribes the European Portuguese pronunciation as [prɨˈtor].^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praetor (“praetor, a Roman magistrate”).^[1][4][5] Nascentes calls it a learned word.^[5]

The Latin word comes from an earlier *praiitōr, formed praeeō (“to go in front, lead the way”) with the agent suffix -tor; old inscriptions still spell it prait-.^[6][7] The Romans themselves explained it so: Varro says the praetor was named as the one who went in front of the army, and Bluteau repeats the explanation of Varro and Cicero.^[7][2] The verb is prae- (“before”) and eō (“to go”).^[6][7]

The same Latin word is Galician pretor, Spanish pretor, Catalan pretor, French préteur and Italian pretore.^[6] Spanish has it from about 1580, and French first had the Latin form as Old French pretor (1213) before it was adapted to the modern form.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before the Portuguese word, medieval Latin documents of Portugal used praetor for the governor of a town: Viterbo cites a royal donation of 1183 to the bishop of Viseu that names a praetor of Coimbra, and the charter of Castelo Branco given by the Templars, which lists the town's Pretor beside its lesser Alcaide.^[10] In Portuguese the word is recorded from the 15th century.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

The dictionaries of the 17th and 18th centuries define it only as the Roman magistrate.^[11][2] Morais (1789) adds that in the old Portuguese documents, according to Brandão's Monarquia Lusitana, it meant the same as alcaide-mor, and Viterbo describes this medieval pretor as the absolute lord of the lands entrusted to him, with powers in military, criminal and civil matters.^[12][10] Modern dictionaries keep this as a historical sense.^[1][13]

In Brazil the word became the title of a judge of lower rank than a juiz de direito, especially in Rio de Janeiro, and of one of the magistracies of the Federal District.^{[1][14][15][13]} Porto Editora also gives a modern sense, a magistrate with administrative and police functions.^[3]

Timeline

• 1183 – a Latin donation cited by Viterbo names a praetor of Coimbra.^[10]
• 15th century – first record of the Portuguese word.^[1][4]
• 16th century – first record of the derivative pretoria “jurisdiction of a praetor”.^[4]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro glosses Pretor with Latin praetor.^[11]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines pretôr as an ancient Roman magistrate.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais records the medieval sense “alcaide-mor”.^[12]
• 1798–1799 – Viterbo's Elucidário describes the medieval pretor.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) A magistrate of ancient Rome who administered justice or governed a province.^[1][13][14]
2. (history) In the Middle Ages, an alcaide-mor, the absolute lord of the lands entrusted to him.^[1][13][16]
3. (Brazil, chiefly Rio de Janeiro) A judge of lower rank than a juiz de direito.^[1][14][17]
4. (Brazil) One of the magistracies of the Federal District.^[15][13]

Word family

• pretoria

Related words

• pretório
• Latin praetor
• Spanish pretor

References

1. ^ 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. pretor
2. ^ a b c d Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. pretôr
3. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7464
4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. pretor
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. pretor
6. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
7. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pretor
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. préteur
10. ^ a b c d Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 242
11. ^ 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. pretor
12. ^ 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, 242
13. ^ a b c d e 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. pretor
14. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. pretor
15. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. pretor
16. ^ 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. pretor
17. ^ 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. pretor