temer

Forms

temer (first-person singular present temo, first-person singular preterite temi, past participle temido)^[1] Houaiss records témi, temíía and timia in the 14th century and teemades and temaaes in the 15th.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin timeō (“to fear”), written Old Galician-Portuguese temer in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1]

The same Latin verb is Galician temer, Spanish temer, Catalan témer, Occitan témer, Italian temere and Romanian teme.^[1][4] Corominas notes that it is common to all the Romance languages except French.^[5]

The origin of the Latin verb is uncertain.^[6][1] A link with Proto-Indo-European *temH- (“dark”), the root of tenebrae (“darkness”), makes sense but is difficult in its sounds;^[1] Wiktionary compares Sanskrit तिम्यति (timyati, “to become quiet”).^[1] De Vaan rejects a connection with words for “stiff”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 13th century.^[2][3] The Cancioneiro da Ajuda has it in the sense “to dread”, with the forms temo, tema, temia, temerei and temendo.^[7] In a cantiga d'escarnho Martin Soarez tells someone that he need not fear anyone speaking ill of his minstrelsy (non temiades... de vos nulh' ome dela dizer mal), and the Crónica Troiana assures the hearers that they have nothing to fear from “our side” (nen que temer da nossa parte).^[7]

Semantic evolution

The cantigas d'amigo also use the reflexive temer-se de in the same sense.^[7] Temente “fearing” and temeroso are as old as the verb.^[3] Bluteau (1712–1728) devotes a long article to the passion of fear and its place among the virtues.^[8] Morais (1789) has temo a Deus, a morte “I fear God, death” and distinguishes temer a alguém, fearing that harm may come to someone.^[9] Modern dictionaries list fearing something, fearing for someone, revering God or the law, and suspecting that something unwelcome is the case.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records;^[2][3] temente and temeroso also date from this century.^[2][3]
• 14th century – the forms témi, temíía and timia.^[2]
• c. 1430 – the earliest record in the CTA prose corpus, the Horto do Esposo (witness 1390–1437).^[10]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it with Latin metuo.^[11]
• 1611 – Barbosa adds timeo, formido, paveo and vereor.^[12]
• 1789 – Morais records temer a Deus and temer a alguém.^[9]
• 1813 – first record of destemido “fearless”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fear, to be afraid of;^[2][13][1] (intransitive and reflexive) to feel fear: Os pescadores temiam a tempestade.^[2][13][1]
2. temer por: to fear for, to worry about: Temia pelo filho no mar.^[2][1]
3. To revere, to hold in awe (God, the law, one's parents).^[2][13][1]
4. To suspect, to be afraid (that something unwelcome is the case): Temo que já seja tarde.^[2][1]

Word family

• temente
• temido
• temível
• destemido

Related words

• destemor
• temência
• temeroso
• temor
• temoroso
• tímido
• Latin timeo
• Spanish temer

Usage notes

Fazer-se temer is to inspire fear or respect.^[14][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. temer
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. temor
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. timere
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 456
6. ^ a b 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 c 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. temer
8. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. temer
9. ^ 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, 448
10. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. temer
11. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. temer
12. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. temer
13. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. temer
14. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. temer
15. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. temer