respeito

Forms

respeito m (plural respeitos)^[1] Old spellings are respeyto in the 14th century and rrespeito and the Latinising rrespecto in the 15th.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin respectus (“a looking back; regard, consideration”), and is first written Old Galician-Portuguese respeyto.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun is formed from respiciō (“to look back”), itself from re- (“back”) and speciō (“to look at”).^[5][1]

The same Latin word is Spanish respeto, Italian rispetto and Old French respit, today's French répit “respite”;^[6][7] French respect is a later learned borrowing.^[6][7] Corominas treats the Spanish word as taken from Latin, first in 1438.^[8] Nascentes explains the sense of respect as looking around to see whether one is watched before doing something wrong; this is his own conjecture.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the 14th century.^[2][3] Lorenzo's earliest quotations are of the 15th century: in 1460 a rrespeito de means “in proportion to, reckoned on”, and in 1463 auemdo nos Respeito ao que com rrazom deuemos means “having regard to what we rightly owe”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the main sense was “reason, cause, regard”: Cardoso glosses it with Latin ratio, Pereira adds causa, and Bluteau has por este respeito “for this reason”.^[10][11][12] Morais in 1789 defines it as the side from which one looks at a thing and the relation of one thing to another.^[13] Folqman in 1755 already lists “veneration” first.^[14] Cunha gives “reverence, veneration, obedience” as the sense of the 14th-century record.^[3]

Today the main senses are “deference, esteem” and “obedience”, with “point of view”, “relation”, “fear” and, in the plural, “regards, compliments”.^[2][15] The verb respeitar, respeitável and respeitador are recorded from the 16th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, as respeyto.^[3][2]
• c. 1430 – respeito in the Horto do Esposo.^[16]
• 15th century – the phrase a respeito de.^[2]
• 1460 – a rrespeito de meo dizimo in a Portuguese document.^[9]
• 1481 – the Latinising spelling respecto.^[9]
• 16th century – first records of respeitar, respeitável and respectivo.^[3]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses respeito with Latin ratio.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as the aspect from which a thing is considered.^[13]
• 1881 – first record of desrespeito.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. respect, deference; the feeling that leads one to treat a person or thing with great consideration: Tinha muito respeito pela avó.^[2][17][1]
2. Obedience, submission.^[2][1]
3. The point of view from which a question is considered; aspect.^[2][18]
4. A reason or cause.^[2][18]
5. Relation, reference.^[2][15]
6. Fear, apprehension.^[2][17]
7. (in the plural) Regards, compliments.^[2][15]

Word family

• respeitar
• respeitável
• respeitoso
• respeitador
• respeitante
• desrespeito
• desrespeitar

Related words

• respectivo
• respeitabilidade
• aspecto
• Latin respectus
• Spanish respeto

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include a respeito de and com respeito a “concerning”, dizer respeito a “to concern” and faltar ao respeito “to be disrespectful”.^[2][15][1]

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 l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. respeito
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. respeito
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. respeito
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. respectus
6. ^ 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. 441
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. répit
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. respeto
9. ^ a b c 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. respeito
10. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. respeito
11. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. respeito
12. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. respeito
13. ^ 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, 334
14. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. respeito
15. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8039
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. respeito
17. ^ a b 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. respeito
18. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. respeito