tormenta

Forms

tormenta f (plural tormentas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin tormenta, the plural of Latin tormentum (“engine for hurling missiles; torture, torment”) taken as a feminine singular, and is written Old Galician-Portuguese tormenta in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Latin writings of the 3rd century already use the plural with the value of a singular.^[4][5] The sense “storm” grew out of “torments”, and the old sense lived on in Old French tormente, as in Old Portuguese.^[5][4]

The Latin noun is formed from torqueō (“to twist”) with the suffix -mentum, from *torkmentom.^[6][1] The Spanish word tormenta is recorded from the middle of the 13th century.^[4] Corominas explains its lack of a diphthong either by the learned tormento or by its being a seafaring loan, perhaps from Portuguese but more likely from French.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria use the word for a storm at sea, levantou-s'o mar con tormenta “the sea rose up in a storm”, and also for suffering, do inferno seeredes quitos e de ssa tormenta “you will be freed from hell and its torment”.^[7] The Cancioneiro da Ajuda has both senses too.^[7] Houaiss and Cunha date the word to the 13th century.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the Crónica Troiana a storm rises as soon as the ships lose sight of land (leuantousse hũa gran tormenta et fezo hun tal uento).^[7] The sense “affliction, pain” is still found in a document of Porto of 1408.^[8] The 16th- and 17th-century dictionaries render the word by Latin procella and tempestas, and Bluteau describes it as a great disturbance of the air or the sea caused by violent winds.^[9][10][11]

By 1912 the word had the figurative senses “agitation, disorder” and “heated argument”.^[12] Houaiss adds “a great quantity of bad things”.^[2] In Brazil dialect surveys also record it for a thunderstorm, a hailstorm and a strong wind.^[13][14]

Timeline

• 13th century – tormenta “storm” and “torment” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[7]
• 1408 – tormenta “affliction” in a document of Porto.^[8]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders Tormenta by Latin procella.^[9]
• 1592 – the spelling tromẽta in a private letter.^[15]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the storm at sea.^[11]
• 1912 – Silva Bastos records the figurative senses “disorder” and “heated argument”.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A violent storm, especially at sea; a tempestade or temporal: A tormenta obrigou os pescadores a voltar ao porto.^{[2][16][17][1]}
2. (figurative) A great noise; commotion, disorder, agitation.^{[2][16][18][1]}
3. (figurative) A heated argument.^[2][19]
4. (figurative) Great suffering or affliction, torment (tormento).^[19][1]
5. A great quantity or series of bad things.^[2][19]

Related words

• tormento
• atormentar
• torcer
• Latin tormentum
• Spanish tormenta

Usage notes

The proverb grande nau, grande tormenta “big ship, big storm” means that the more important an undertaking, the greater its troubles.^[20][21]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. tormenta
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. tormenta
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 553
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. torcer
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. tormentum
7. ^ a b c d 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. tormenta
8. ^ a b Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 383
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tormenta
10. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tormenta
11. ^ 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. tormenta
12. ^ a b Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. tormenta
13. ^ 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. tormenta
14. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 2, s.v. tormenta
15. ^ 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. tormenta
16. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. tormenta
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. tormenta
18. ^ 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. tormenta
19. ^ 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. tormenta
20. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9048
21. ^ 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. tormenta