subversão

Forms

subversão f (plural subversões)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling sobversão in 1720.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin subversio (“overthrow, ruin, destruction”), a noun of Late Latin, recorded in Arnobius and the Vulgate.^[2][3][4][5] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word.^[6] The Latin noun is formed from subverto (“to overturn”) with the suffix -tio, and the verb from sub- and verto (“to turn”).^[1][7]

The Portuguese verb subverter was taken from the same Latin verb and is older, first recorded in the 14th century.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, of 1589, is for the sense “ruin, destruction”.^[2] The medical sense, a disorder of the digestion, is dated 1668–1705.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant the overthrow or ruin of something material;^[2][10] Aulete's old edition quotes Pantaleão de Aveiro on the pitch that came from wells in a valley “before the subversion of the Cities”.^[2][10] Vieira (1871–1874) gives “ruin, destruction, fall”, the medical sense subversão do estômago and the figurative sense of moral perversion.^[11] The modern senses are political: revolt against authority, laws and accepted rules, the overturning of an established order, and the systematic action of internal groups that aim to bring down a political, economic or social system, and by metonymy those groups themselves.^[2][4][5]

Timeline

• 14th century – the verb subverter, as subvertudos.^[8]
• 1589 – first record of subversão, “ruin”.^[2]
• 1668–1705 – the medical sense.^[2]
• 1720 – the spelling sobversão.^[2]
• 1822 – the word in a private letter.^[12]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the senses of ruin, the medical sense and moral perversion.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or effect of subverting (subverter); overthrow, ruína, destruction.^[2][10]
2. Moral perversion, corruption of morals.^[2][13]
3. (medicine) A digestive disorder.^[2][11]
4. revolt, insubordinação against authority, institutions, laws or accepted rules.^[2][4][14]
5. The overturning or destruction of the established order.^[2][5]
6. (politics) Systematic action by internal groups aimed at undermining and overthrowing a political, economic or social system; by metonymy, the people who carry it out.^[2]

Related words

• subverter
• subversivo
• verter
• Latin subversio

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. subversão
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. subversio
4. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. subversão
5. ^ a b c 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. subversão
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. subversão
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. subuertō
8. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. subverter
9. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. subverter
10. ^ a b c 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. subversão
11. ^ a b c 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, 617
12. ^ 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. subversão
13. ^ 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. subversão
14. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8692