repelir

Forms

repelir (first-person singular present repilo, third-person singular present repele, first-person singular preterite repeli, past participle repelido)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin repellō (“to push back, drive away; to reject”), taken into the third conjugation.^[2][3][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned.^[4] The Latin verb is formed with re- on pellō (“to push, drive, strike”), which Wiktionary derives from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to drive, strike”).^[5][1] De Vaan explains the present of the simple verb as an old nasal present.^[6]

The same Latin verb is Galician repeler, Spanish repeler, Catalan repel·lir and Italian repellere.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to the 15th century, from Cunha's slips, and Cunha's addenda move his own date from the 17th century to the 15th.^[2][3] The sources do not quote the passage; the basic sense, as in Latin, is to drive back or away.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The original Caldas Aulete gives the senses “to drive back”, “to expel”, “to keep from coming near” and “to reject, refuse”, with quotations from Camilo Castelo Branco and Castilho.^[8] Houaiss adds being incompatible with something (a greasy liquid repels water), the reflexive use of two people who avoid each other, and a legal sense of defending oneself against what one thinks unjust.^[2] Cunha dates the derivatives repelente to 1813 and repelência to 1899.^[3]

Timeline

• 15th century – first record.^[2][3]
• 1813 – first record of repelente.^[3]
• 1899 – repellencia is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To drive back or away; to repel, repulse.^[2][9][1]
2. (transitive) To keep from coming in or near.^[2][9]
3. (transitive) To push out; to expel.^[9][10]
4. (transitive) To refuse to accept or admit; to reject; to avoid.^[2][9]
5. (transitive) To feel aversion to; to be incompatible with.^[2][11]
6. (transitive) To answer an accusation; to rebut.^[2][11]
7. (pronominal) To be mutually incompatible; to avoid each other.^[2][12]
8. (pronominal, law) To defend oneself against what one considers unjust.^[2]

Word family

• repelente
• repelência

Related words

• repulsa
• impelir
• expelir
• Latin repellō

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. repelir
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. repelir
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. repelir
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. repellō
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
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. repeler
8. ^ 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. repelir
9. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. repelir
10. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. repelir
11. ^ a b 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. repelir
12. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7998