teatro

Forms

teatro m (plural teatros)^[1] The first record has theatros; the spelling teatro is recorded from 1836, and theatro was the usual form until the 20th-century reforms.^[2][1] Pereira already heads the word Teatro in 1697, but Bluteau and Vieira refer teatro to theatro.^[3][4][5] Feijó in 1734 lists the popular form tiatro beside theátro; dialect surveys of Portugal record treato and triato.^[6][7]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin theātrum (“theatre”), from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”), a learned word.^[2][1][8][9] The same Latin word gave Galician teatro, Spanish teatro, Catalan teatre, French théâtre, Italian teatro and Mirandese triato.^[1][10][11]

The Greek noun is formed on θεάομαι (theáomai, “to watch, look at”) with the instrumental suffix -τρον (-tron).^[1][12][2] Houaiss starts from θέα (théa, “sight, spectacle”) and renders the whole literally as “machine for a spectacle”.^[1][12][2] Nascentes remarks that the idea of seeing, not of hearing, came first, as in espetáculo.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record, theatros, to the 15th century, in the sense of the great amphitheatre of ancient Rome where games and public shows were held.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau in the 18th century described the theatre of the ancients, with its proscenio and orchestra, as the place where people gathered to see tragedies and comedies.^[13] Morais in 1789 defines it as the place where plays are performed, and adds the figurative o theatro do mundo and as regras do theatro.^[14] The original Caldas Aulete quotes Camões for the sense “circus, amphitheatre” and adds the dramatic works of an author or a country (o teatro italiano) and the art of acting.^[15] From “stage” came “the scene of a notable event”, as in teatro de operações, and in recent use “pretence, a show of feeling”.^[2][1][16]

Through Konkani the word reached English as tiatr.^[1]

Timeline

• 15th century – first record, theatros.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira's dictionary heads the word Teatro.^[3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the ancient theatre under theátro.^[13]
• 1734 – Feijó notes the popular form tiatro.^[6]
• 1789 – Morais has o theatro do mundo.^[14]
• 1836 – first record of the spelling teatro.^[2]
• c. 1900 – the teatro de bulevar, the light comedy of the Paris boulevards.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) In ancient Rome, a great amphitheatre for games and public shows.^[2][15]
2. A building or place where plays, operas and other shows are performed; a theatre: Vamos ao teatro no sábado.^[2][9][1]
3. The art of the stage; drama as an art form.^[2][17][1]
4. The dramatic works of an author, a period or a country: o teatro grego.^[2][16]
5. The art of acting, and the profession of an actor or actress.^[2][18]
6. (figurative) The scene of a notable event: teatro de operações.^[2][17][1]
7. (figurative) Illusion, vain appearance.^[2][16]
8. (figurative) Pretence, hypocrisy shown with exaggerated emotion: Aquele choro era puro teatro.^[2][1]

Related words

• anfiteatro
• teatral
• teatralidade
• teatralizar
• teátrico
• espetáculo
• Latin theātrum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. teatro
3. ^ 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. teatro
4. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. teatro
5. ^ 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, 685
6. ^ 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. theátro
7. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. teatro
8. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. teatro
9. ^ 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. teatro
10. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 445
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. théâtre
12. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. θέατρον
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. theátro
14. ^ 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, 457
15. ^ a b 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. teatro
16. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8859
17. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. teatro
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. teatro