teso

Forms

teso (feminine tesa, masculine plural tesos, feminine plural tesas)^[1] Houaiss records tesso in the 15th century, and a private letter of 1714 spells it tezo.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tēnsus (“stretched”), the past participle of tendō (“to stretch, extend”).^[2][4][5][1] It is the popular form beside the learned tenso.^[2][4][1] The participle is a later, analogical form beside the older tentus.^[1]

The same Latin word is Galician teso, Spanish tieso, Catalan tes and Italian teso.^[6][7][1] García de Diego explains the diphthong of the Spanish word by the vowel of tender (“to stretch”).^[6]

The noun “steep hill, hilltop” has the same origin: Houaiss explains it as a shortening of the phrase ⟨monte teso⟩ “very steep hill”, and Aurélio derives it from the same phrase.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin charter of 1107, quoted in Lorenzo's chronology, already has the Romance participle: et in anplo habet IIIes cubitos tesos “and in width it has three cubits, stretched”.^[9] Houaiss and Cunha date the Portuguese adjective to the 14th century, in the sense “stretched, taut”.^[2][4] The noun “steep hill” follows in 1552.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From “stretched” the adjective came to mean “stiff, rigid” and “motionless”, then “hard, firm” and, of people, “bold, unyielding”.^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) records it of strong winds and of rivers running fast, and Morais (1789) of rain falling hard and of a man who is brave and firm in his opinion.^[10][11] Vieira quotes João de Barros for water that runs tão teso “so strongly”, and records o mais teso do exercito, the strongest part of an army, a use Houaiss also gives for the thick of a crowd.^[12][2]

The informal sense “penniless, broke” is used in Portugal and in Brazil, where it is recorded in Paraíba and Rio Grande do Sul.^[2][13][14] Portuguese has the phrase ficar teso “to be left without money”.^[15] The noun took regional senses in Brazil: in Amazonia a stretch of ground above the level of a flooded plain (from 1899), on Marajó a mound raised in marshy land for houses or burials, and in Rio Grande do Sul the high ground along a river bank.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1107 – a Latin charter has cubitos tesos.^[9]
• 14th century – first record of the adjective.^[2][4]
• 15th century – the spelling tesso.^[2]
• 1552 – first record of the noun “steep hill”.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira lists Teso as the same as testo “firm”.^[16]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records arco teso and corda tesa and the proverb about Apollo's bow.^[10]
• 1899 – the Amazonian sense of the noun.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. taut, stretched tight, tense (tenso): Deixa a corda bem tesa.^[2][17][1]
2. Stiff, rigid; motionless (imóvel).^[2][18][1]
3. Hard, firm: terra tesa.^[2][18]
4. Hard-fought: uma discussão tesa.^[2][19][1]
5. Bold, fearless (intrépido); strong and vigorous, even in old age.^[2][8][1]
6. Violent, impetuous, intense: um vento teso.^[2][18]
7. Steep, íngreme.^[2][1]
8. Unyielding, inflexible; harsh: uma resposta tesa.^[2][15][1]
9. (informal) Without money, broke.^[2][15][1]

Noun

1. A steep hill; the top of a hill.^[2][20][1]
2. The strongest, most compact part of a crowd.^[2][20]
3. (Brazil, Amazonia) A stretch of ground that stays above the water in flooded land.^[2][8][1]
4. (Brazil, Pará) A mound raised in marshy land for houses or a cemetery; also an island or group of islands divided by small channels.^[2][8]
5. (Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul) The higher ground along a river bank.^[2][8][1]
6. (informal) A person without money.^[2][15][1]

Word family

• entesar
• tesar
• tesura

Related words

• tender
• tensão
• tenso
• Latin tendō
• Galician teso
• Spanish tieso

Usage notes

Bluteau quotes the proverb nem sempre tem Apolo o arco teso “Apollo does not always keep his bow drawn”, used of those who never stop studying.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. teso
3. ^ 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. teso
4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. tenso
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 492
6. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. tensus
7. ^ 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. tieso
8. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. teso
9. ^ a b 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. teso
10. ^ 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. teso
11. ^ 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, 455
12. ^ 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, 713
13. ^ Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. teso
14. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. teso
15. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8943
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. teso
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. teso
18. ^ 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. teso
19. ^ 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. teso
20. ^ 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. teso