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
From the same root
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
- Feeling or showing reverence and respect; reverencioso.[2][17][18]
- Expressing reverence: of words, gestures or posture.[2][1]
Related words
- reverência
- reverenciar
- reverendo
- irreverente
- Latin revereor
References
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. reverente
- ^ 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
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. reverens
- ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. reverente
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. revereor
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ 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
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 25
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. reverente
- ^ 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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