Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word reverente

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1485 a Galician charter, spelt rreverentes More words from the 15th century
Borrowed from
Latin reverens
Ultimate origin
Latin vereor
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vereor
Latin revereor
English revere
French révérer
Latin reverēns
English reverent
Portuguese reverente
Spanish reverente
From the same root
Latin verēcundus ← vereor
Latin reverendus ← revereor
Latin irreverēns ← reverēns
Latin reverenter ← reverēns
Latin reverentia ← reverēns

Forms

reverente m or f (plural reverentes)[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin reverēns (“respectful, reverent”), the present participle of revereor (“to stand in awe of, respect”).[2][3][4][5] Nascentes calls it a learned word.[6] The Latin verb is formed with re- on vereor (“to fear, respect”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to watch out for”).[7][8]

The same Latin word is Spanish reverente, Catalan reverent and Italian riverente.[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a Galician charter of 1485, in the pair ovedientes e rreverentes “obedient and respectful”.[11][2]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it as showing reverence and quotes Frei António das Chagas on the Seraphim in the most reverent posture before God.[12] Morais (1813) separates the person who reveres from the outward sign of inner reverence, as in postura reverente.[13] Vieira quotes Jacinto Freire de Andrade on the bones of João de Castro, received in Lisbon com reverente, e piedoso applauso.[14] Aulete quotes Camões: um velho reverente kneeling on the ground.[1] Its opposite is irreverente.[1]

Timeline

  • 1485 – rreverentes in a Galician charter.[11]
  • 1622–1682 – the spelling reverente.[2]
  • 1697 – Pereira glosses it with Latin cultor.[15]
  • 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as showing reverence.[12]
  • 1734 – a private letter of that year or earlier has the word.[16]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Feeling or showing reverence and respect; reverencioso.[2][17][18]
  2. Expressing reverence: of words, gestures or posture.[2][1]
  • reverência
  • reverenciar
  • reverendo
  • irreverente
  • Latin revereor

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. reverente
  2. ^ a b c d e f Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. reverente
  3. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. reverente
  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. reverente
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. reverens
  6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. reverente
  7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. revereor
  8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ 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. reverente
  10. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  11. ^ a b 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. reverente
  12. ^ 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. reverente
  13. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 25
  14. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 279
  15. ^ 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. reverente
  16. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. reverente
  17. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. reverente
  18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. reverente

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Reverente.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/reverente. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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