severidade

Forms

severidade f (plural severidades)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sevēritās (“sternness, strictness”), first recorded in 1563.^[2][3][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned.^[4] Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed within Portuguese as severo with the suffix -idade.^[1] The same Latin noun is Spanish severidad, Galician severidade, Catalan severitat, French sévérité and Italian severità.^[1][5]

In Latin the noun is formed from sevērus (“stern, strict”) with the suffix -tās.^[6][1] The adjective is disputed: Walde–Hofmann and Meiser explain it as a compound of a prefix "apart" and the word for "true", but de Vaan finds the meaning hard to explain and derives it from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning "holding", akin to Ancient Greek ἐχυρός (ekhurós, “strong, secure”) and Sanskrit सहुरि (sáhuri, “victorious, strong”).^[7][1] Wiktionary, following de Vaan, gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to 1563.^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728), who glosses it "rigour, harshness", quotes the phrase Com esta Severidade, & seccura "with this severity and dryness" from the third Década of Barros.^[8] Pereira's dictionary of 1697 already renders it with Latin severitas and tetricitas.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The early sense is strictness and harshness in dealing with people, above all in punishing: Bluteau's book of synonyms calls it an attribute of princes and the virtue that will not delay or forgive the punishment of criminals.^[8] Feijó's Orthographia (1734) records it beside a variant seviridade.^[10] By the 19th century it was used of morals and character, of the taste of literary and artistic works, and of climates.^[11] Modern dictionaries add the sober or austere look of a building or a style.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 1563 – first record.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro enters severidade.^[9]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau quotes Barros.^[8]
• 1734 – Feijó notes the variant seviridade.^[10]
• 1813 – Morais: "rigidity, rigour".^[13]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records its use of taste and of climates.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality or state of being severe (severo).^[2][12][14]
2. A severe or rigorous act.^[2][12]
3. Lack of leniency in judging, disciplining or punishing; sternness: a severidade do professor com os alunos.^[2][15]
4. Firmness or rigidity of character; austerity.^[2][12][16]
5. Sobriety of style; the plain, solemn or sombre look of a place: a severidade de uma capela.^[2][12]
6. Harshness, rigour of a climate: a severidade das geadas.^[2][12][16]

Related words

• severo
• Latin sevēritās
• Spanish severidad

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. severidade
3. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. severidade
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. severidade
5. ^ 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. severidad
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. sevēritās
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. severidade
9. ^ a b 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. severidade
10. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. severidade
11. ^ a b 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, 517
12. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. severidade
13. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 697
14. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. severidade
15. ^ 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. severidade
16. ^ a b 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. severidade