render

Forms

render (first-person singular present rendo, first-person singular preterite rendi, past participle rendido)^[1] Houaiss records rende in the 13th century and rrender in the 14th.^[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria have the old participle rendudo.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *rendō (“to give back”), written Old Galician-Portuguese render in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1] The Vulgar Latin form is an alteration of Latin reddō (“to give back, restore”) under the influence of its opposite prēndō (“to take”).^[2][4][5] The DLE adds the influence of vendō (“to sell”) for the Spanish word.^[6] Wiktionary notes that the form with n is attested in the Salic law.^[1] The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and dō (“to give”).^[7][1]

The same form is Galician render, Italian rendere and French rendre, as well as Old Spanish render, the older form of Spanish rendir.^[8][9] Nascentes doubts that the change is Romance-wide, since Catalan retre and Old Occitan redre keep the form without n.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Cantigas de Santa Maria its senses are “to give back”, as in a mother's plea Rogo-vos que meu fillo me querades render, “I beg you to give me back my son”;^[3] “to give, offer”, in render graças “to give thanks”;^[3] “to atone for”; and, as render-se, “to surrender”: m'acomendo a ti e rendo, “I commend myself to you and yield”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Cunha dates the senses “to repay, give in exchange” and “to yield an income” to the 14th century.^[4] A document of 1323 uses the verb for paying back a share of land.^[10] The military senses came to the fore in the age of the conquests: Bluteau (1712) has render hũa praça “to take a fortress” and render sentinelas “to relieve the sentries”.^[11] Morais (1813) adds render o espírito a Deus “to give up the ghost”.^[12]

Modern dictionaries add “to move to pity”, “to produce, give a yield”, and intransitive senses: to give way under a weight, to crack, and to suffer a hernia.^[2][13] In the Brazilian south render also means “to last, take long to finish”.^[14]

Timeline

• 13th century – render in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3][2]
• 14th century – the senses “to repay” and “to yield an income”.^[4]
• 1323 – render “to pay” in a document of the University.^[10]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses render with Latin reddo.^[15]
• 1712 – Bluteau records render hũa praça and render sentinelas.^[11]
• 1813 – Morais records render o espírito a Deus.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To force to surrender; to overcome, subdue: render a guarnição.^[2][5][1]
2. (reflexive) To surrender, give oneself up; to yield to something.^[2][1]
3. (transitive) To relieve someone in a duty; to take the place of: render a sentinela.^[2][5]
4. (transitive) To move to pity; to touch.^[2][5]
5. (transitive) To give or offer: render graças, render homenagem.^[13][1]
6. (transitive, intransitive) To produce, to yield as profit (lucro); to be profitable.^[2][13][1]
7. (intransitive) To give way under a weight; to crack.^[13]
8. (intransitive) To suffer a hernia (hérnia).^[13][14]
9. (intransitive, southern Brazil) To last a long time.^[14]

Word family

• rendição
• rendido
• rendimento
• rendoso

Related words

• renda
• Latin reddō
• Spanish rendir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. render
3. ^ a b c d e Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. render
4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. render
5. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. render
6. ^ 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. render
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 440
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 873
10. ^ a b 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, 284
11. ^ 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. render
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 8
13. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. render
14. ^ a b c Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. render
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. render