sagrar

Forms

sagrar (first-person singular present sagro, first-person singular preterite sagrei, past participle sagrado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sacrō (“to consecrate, dedicate”), written Old Galician-Portuguese sagrar in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1][4] Its past participle sagrado “sacred” continues sacrātus.^[5][1]

The same Latin verb gave Spanish sagrar, Catalan sagrar, Old Occitan sagrar and Italian sacrare.^[6][7] García de Diego marks the Spanish verb as old.^[8]

The Latin verb is formed from sacer (“sacred, holy”).^[9][1] Wiktionary takes it from Proto-Italic *sakrāō.^[1] De Vaan traces the adjective to Proto-Indo-European *sh₂k-ro- (“sacred”), the root that also gave sanciō (“to ratify solemnly”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the verb to the 13th century from the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2] In cantiga 149 a priest at mass doubts the Host he has just consecrated: na missa e sagrara a Ostia dultando “at mass, and he had consecrated the Host, doubting”.^[11] The first sense is thus the liturgical consecration of the Host.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts also use the verb for consecrating churches and bishops: the Crónica de 1344 has bishops who sagrarẽ as igreias “consecrated the churches”, and the Miragres de Santiago tell how a church was consecrated.^[11] The Crónica Troiana uses it of Apollo hallowing the walls of Troy.^[11] Medieval Latin had the same range for Latin sacrare: consecrating the Host, a church, a priest, a bishop and a king.^[12]

Bluteau defines it as turning a profane thing into a sacred one with church ceremonies, and gives the consecration of a church and of a bishop.^[13] The old Caldas Aulete adds the secular sense “to hold in veneration”.^[14] Modern dictionaries add the conferring of a title or honour, and in the reflexive sagrar-se the verb now also means to win a title or a victory.^[2][15][1]

Timeline

• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria use sagrar of the Host.^[2][11]
• 14th century – the Crónica de 1344 speaks of consecrating churches.^[11]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates it by Latin sacro.^[16]
• 1611 – Barbosa gives sagrar, ou consagrar.^[17]
• 1712 – Bluteau describes the consecration of churches and bishops.^[13]
• 1789 – Morais: to confer a sacred character by religious ceremonies, as on a bishop or a temple.^[18]
• 1871 – Vieira repeats Morais's definition with sagrar uma egreja.^[19]

Meanings

Verb

1. To consecrate, dedicate to God or to divine service: O bispo sagrou a nova capela.^[2][20][1]
2. To bless, sanctify; to consecrate the bread and wine at mass.^[20][15]
3. To invest with a dignity in a religious ceremony; to anoint a king or consecrate a bishop: Foi sagrado bispo em Braga.^[2][20][21]
4. To devote one's life or feelings to something;^[2][22] (reflexive) to devote oneself.^[2][22]
5. To confer a title or honour;^[2][15][1] (reflexive, sagrar-se) to win a title or a victory: A equipa sagrou-se campeã no último jogo.^[2][15][1]
6. To venerate, or make revered and respected.^[2][23]

Related words

• consagrar
• sagrado
• sacramento
• sacrário
• sacro
• sagração
• Latin sacrō
• Spanish sagrar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. sagrar
3. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. sagrar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. sagrar
5. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. sagrado
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7493
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. p. 453
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. sacrare
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. sacrō
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. sacer
11. ^ a b c d e f 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. sagrar
12. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. sacrare
13. ^ 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. sagrar
14. ^ 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. sagrar
15. ^ a b c d 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. sagrar
16. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sagrar
17. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sagrar
18. ^ 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, 366
19. ^ 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, 376
20. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. sagrar
21. ^ 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. sagrar
22. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8239
23. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. sagrar