reitor

Forms

reitor m (plural reitores, feminine reitora, feminine plural reitoras)^[1] Houaiss records rreytor (1332), reytores (14th century), reetores and rrectores (15th century), and the modern reitor from 1589.^[2] Cunha has the Latin-looking rector already in the 13th century.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rector (“helmsman, guide, ruler”), recorded in 1332 as Old Galician-Portuguese rreytor.^[2][3][1] Nascentes regards it as a semi-learned form, and notes that it narrowed its meaning to the head of a teaching institution.^[4] Cunha records the unchanged Latin spelling in the 13th century and the present one from the 14th.^[3]

The same Latin word gave Spanish rector, Italian rettore and French recteur.^[5]

The Latin noun is formed from regō (“to direct, guide, govern”) and the agent suffix -tor.^[6][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of the verb, recorded from Cicero on.^[7] Wiktionary takes the verb back through Proto-Italic *regō to Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha has a 13th-century record still spelt rector.^[3] Houaiss's first record is of 1332, spelt rreytor, and his first sense is the general one: one who rules, governs or directs.^[2] Viterbo's Elucidário explains the old reitor as an arbitrating judge, from a Latin document in which the king appoints rectores between two parties in a dispute.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From the general sense the word passed to the heads of religious houses and of schools.^[2] Morais in 1789 defines it as the head of a university or college of studies.^[9] His 1813 edition adds Reitor do Mundo “Ruler of the World” for God, and reitores de almas “rectors of souls” for parish priests.^[10] In Portugal it is still the traditional title of certain parish priests and priors, and it once named the head of a liceu, a secondary school.^[2][11] In Brazil a university rector is addressed as Magnífico Reitor.^[12] The derivative reitoria “rectorship, rector's office” is recorded from 1813.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – the spelling rector.^[3]
• 1332 – first record as rreytor.^[2]
• 14th century – the plural reytores.^[2]
• 1513 – reitor in the Livro dos Mártires.^[13]
• 1589 – the modern spelling reitor.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as the head of a university or college.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais adds reitores de almas “parish priests”, and reitoria is first recorded.^[10][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who rules, governs or directs.^[2][14]
2. The superior of a religious order or house, or the priest who heads a seminary.^[2][11]
3. The rector or head of a university or other institution of higher education.^[2][15][1]
4. (Portugal) The traditional title of the parish priest or prior of certain parishes.^[2][14]
5. (Portugal, dated) The head of a liceu, a secondary school.^[11][16]

Word family

• reitoria

Related words

• reger
• regente
• Latin rector

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. reitor
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. reitor
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. reitor
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 439
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. rector
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ 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, 279
9. ^ 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, 314
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 588
11. ^ 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. reitor
12. ^ 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. reitor
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. reitor
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. reitor
15. ^ 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. reitor
16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7946