reprovar

Forms

reprovar (first-person singular present reprovo, first-person singular preterite reprovei, past participle reprovado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin reprobō (“to reject, condemn”), first recorded in 1391 as ⟨reprouarem⟩.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from re- and probō (“to approve”), in place of the classical improbō; it is found in the Roman jurists.^[1][5] The DHLF takes French réprouver from Church Latin, and the verb is also Galician reprobar, Spanish reprobar, Catalan reprovar and Italian riprovare.^[6][1]

The Wikcionário analyses the verb as from Portuguese re- + provar instead.^[7] Houaiss and Nascentes keep that formation for the separate verb meaning “to taste again” (see Usage notes).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa translates the verb with Latin words for “to refute” and “to reject”.^[8] Bluteau gives “not to approve, to condemn”, with the example of rejecting someone's way of life.^[9] Morais in 1789 already uses it of a student failed at an examination.^[10] In theology it means to condemn a sinner to eternal punishment.^[2][11] The intransitive use “to fail, not to pass” is common among students: in Brazil of failing a year or a subject, in Portugal beside chumbar.^[1][7][12]

Timeline

• 1391 – first record, reprouarem.^[2]
• 15th century – reprovou.^[2]
• 16th century – Gil Vicente rhymes provar e reprovar.^[13]
• 1611 – Barbosa translates it with Latin reprobo, refello and improbo.^[8]
• 1789 – Morais has the sense “to fail a student”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) Not to approve; to refuse, reject: A direção reprovou o orçamento.^[2][14]
2. (transitive) To vote against: reprovar uma lei.^[2][14]
3. (transitive) To censure (censurar) severely, condemn.^[2][14]
4. (transitive) To judge a pupil or candidate unfit, to fail.^[2][14]
5. (intransitive) To fail an examination, a subject or a school year; to flunk.^[12][1]
6. (theology) To condemn to eternal punishment.^[2][15]

Word family

• reprovação
• reprovável

Related words

• provar
• aprovar
• réprobo
• Latin reprobō

Usage notes

Houaiss, Aurélio and Michaelis record a separate verb reprovar “to taste or test again”, formed from re- and provar and first found in Gil Vicente.^[2][14][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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. reprovar
3. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. reprovar
4. ^ 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. reprovar
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. reprobō
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. réprouver
7. ^ a b Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. reprovar
8. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. reprovar
9. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. reprovar
10. ^ 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, 327
11. ^ 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. reprovar
12. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8015
13. ^ 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. reprovar
14. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. reprovar
15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. reprovar
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. reprovar