sobriedade

Forms

sobriedade f (plural sobriedades)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sōbrietās (“sobriety; temperance in drinking”), recorded from 1572.^[2][3][1] Nascentes counts it a semi-learned word.^[4]

The Latin noun is formed from sōbrius (“sober”) with the suffix -tās.^[5][1] The adjective probably combines the negative prefix sē- with ēbrius (“drunk”); de Vaan notes that its long first vowel is not fully explained.^[6][1] The Portuguese adjective sóbrio is taken from the same Latin word and is recorded only later: Houaiss first finds it in Bluteau's dictionary (1720), Cunha in 1813.^[7][3]

The Latin word is also Spanish sobriedad, Galician sobriedade and French sobriété.^[8][9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1572, from a text he does not quote.^[2] Its first sense was moderation in eating and above all in drinking, as in the Latin word.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines the word as the virtue that keeps drinking within bounds, the opposite of drunkenness, then as moderation in eating and drinking and in other things, such as the desire to know, after the phrase of Saint Paul sapere ad sobrietatem.^[10] His book of synonyms praises it as the guardian of health and the cause of long lives.^[11] Morais (1789) gives “temperance, chiefly in drinking”, and the figurative saber com sobriedade “to know with measure”.^[12]

The modern dictionaries add the plain state of not being drunk, restraint in passions, words and conduct, gravity of manner, and, in style and the arts, simplicity without ornament.^{[2][13][14][15]}

Timeline

• 1572 – first date in Houaiss.^[2]
• 16th century – Cunha's date for the word.^[3]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses Sobriedade with Latin sobrietas.^[16]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as the virtue that moderates drinking.^[10]
• 1720 – Houaiss's first date for the adjective sóbrio.^[7]
• 1789 – Morais gives the figurative saber com sobriedade.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. sobriety, the quality of being sober; moderation in eating and drinking.^{[2][17][18][1]}
2. The state of not being drunk.^[2][13][15]
3. Restraint in passions, words and conduct; temperance.^[2][18][14]
4. Seriousness, discretion, reserve of manner.^[2][13][15]
5. Simplicity, absence of ornament or artifice, in style, the arts or decoration: a sobriedade da fachada.^[13][14][15]

Related words

• sóbrio
• Latin sōbrius
• Spanish sobriedad

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. sobriedade
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. sobriedade
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. sobriedade
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. sōbrietās
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. sóbrio
8. ^ 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. sobriedad
9. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. sobriedade
10. ^ 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. sobriedade
11. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sobriedade, Vocabulario de synonymos
12. ^ 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, 410
13. ^ 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. sobriedade
14. ^ a b c 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. sobriedade
15. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8576
16. ^ 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. sobriedade
17. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. sobriedade
18. ^ a b 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. sobriedade