provável

Forms

provável m or f (plural prováveis, comparable, comparative mais provável, superlative o mais provável or provabilíssimo)^[1] Houaiss records the 15th-century spellings prouauel and the plural provavees.^[2] Before the accent rules the word was written provavel.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin probābilis (“that can be proved; credible”).^[2][4][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned, and DELPo and Wiktionary note that it can also be analysed as from Portuguese provar + -vel.^[5][6][1]

The same Latin word is Galician probable, Spanish probable, French probable, Italian probabile and Romanian probabil.^[1][7] French has it from 1285, first as Old French proubable.^[8]

The Latin adjective is formed from probō (“to test; to approve”) and the suffix -bilis, and first meant “worthy of approval”.^[9][1] The verb itself comes from probus (“good, upright”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date is a 15th-century record from Cunha's slips of medieval Portuguese, spelt prouauel.^[2] Cunha also dates the word to the 15th century.^[2][4] Houaiss gives “that can be proved” as the first sense.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In moral theology a doutrina provável was one that could be followed without offence to the law, even though it was not clearly good and safe.^[10][11] Houaiss dates this sense to 1692, and Morais (1813) and Vieira (1871) still define it.^[2][10][11] Bluteau and Morais (1789) gloss the word simply as “likely to be true”.^[3][12]

The sense “likely to happen”, as in é provável que chova, is in all the modern dictionaries.^[13][14] Houaiss lists it after “that can be proved” and “possible”.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records, spelt prouauel and provavees.^[2][4]
• 1621 – provavel in a private letter.^[15]
• 1692 – first date of the theological sense, a doctrine that may be followed.^[2]
• 1712 – Bluteau glosses provavel as “verisimilar”.^[3]
• 1789 – Morais enters provável with the same sense.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais adds doutrina provável.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That can be proved; provable.^[2][13][1]
2. Having the look of truth; plausible (verossímil).^[13][14]
3. likely to happen or to be so: É provável que ele chegue tarde.^[2][13][1]
4. (theology, historical) Of a doctrine: that may be followed without sin, though not certainly good.^[2][10]

Word family

• improvável
• provavelmente

Related words

• provar
• probabilidade
• Latin probābilis
• Spanish probable

Usage notes

The absolute superlative is the learned probabilíssimo.^[13][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. provável
3. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. provavel
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. provável
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. provável
6. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. provável
7. ^ 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. probable
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. probable
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. probābilis
10. ^ a b c d Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 521
11. ^ 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, 995
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, 259
13. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. provável
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. provável
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. provável
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. provável