provocativo

Forms

provocativo (feminine provocativa, masculine plural provocativos, feminine plural provocativas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin prōvocātīvus (“calling forth”).^[2][1][3] Nascentes calls it a learned word.^[4] Lewis and Short mark the Latin adjective as post-classical: Tertullian uses it in the passive sense “called forth”, and Caelius Aurelianus of ointments that call something forth.^[5] It is formed from prōvocō (“to call forth; to provoke”) with the suffix -īvus, and the verb from prō- (“in front of, for”) and vocō (“to call”).^[1][6] Wiktionary adds that the Portuguese word can also be analysed as provocar with the suffix -tivo.^[1]

The same Latin word gave Spanish provocativo and Catalan provocatiu.^[7][1]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the word to the 15th century, in the plural prouocativos, and Cunha to the 16th.^[2][8] The early record is medical: Bluteau uses it of medicines and drugs that stir the natural faculties into one of their functions, as in provocativo de suor “sweat-inducing”, and gives a moral sense, “stimulus, motive”.^[9] Morais (1813) has the same medical use and a figurative one, and Vieira notes its use as a noun, um provocativo.^[10][11]

In the modern language it means challenging or provoking anger, or arousing interest and desire, the senses of provocante.^[2][12][13]

Timeline

• 15th century – first record, as prouocativos.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records provocativo de suor and a moral sense.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais records the word with a figurative sense.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira notes its use as a noun.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Provoking, exciting or challenging.^[2][3]
2. That causes irritation or anger.^[2][3]
3. Containing a provocation; provocante.^[2][14][15]
4. That arouses interest or curiosity; seductive, attractive.^[12]

Related words

• provocar
• provocante
• provocação
• provocador
• Latin prōvocātīvus

Usage notes

Porto Editora notes that provocativo is less used than provocante.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. provocativo
3. ^ a b c 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. provocativo
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. provocativo
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. provocativo
8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. provocar
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. provocatîvo
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 523
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, 1005
12. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7564
13. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. provocativo
14. ^ 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. provocativo
15. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. provocativo