triste

Forms

triste m or f (plural tristes, comparable, comparative mais triste, superlative o mais triste or tristíssimo, diminutive tristinho, augmentative tristão)^[1] Beside triste, 13th-century texts have trist;^[2][3] Houaiss records tristis and trjste in the 15th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin trīstis (“sad, gloomy”), written Old Galician-Portuguese triste in the oldest texts.^[3][2][4] Wiktionary considers it a probable borrowing from Latin rather than an inherited word.^[1] Corominas notes that the word is common to all the Romance languages, though semi-learned in some.^[5]

The same Latin word is Galician triste, Spanish triste, Catalan trist, Italian tristo, French triste and Romanian trist.^[1][5] The Catalan, Italian and Romanian forms continue a Vulgar Latin variant *trīstus, which Berceo also uses as Old Spanish tristo.^[5] The French word replaced older inherited Old French trist as a borrowing from Latin.^[6]

The origin of the Latin adjective is unknown.^[1] It has been compared with *þrīstī (“bold, daring”), δριμύς (drimús, “sharp; bitter”) and дрѧхлъ (dręxlŭ, “sad”).^[1] De Vaan considers an older form with a nasal, related to the Germanic word, but doubts it.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria have sse partia / dali triste “he left there sad”, and the Cancioneiro da Ajuda uses the word as the opposite of alegre with verbs such as andar and partir.^[8] D. Denis writes e anda trist' e faz muyt' aguisado “goes about sad, and with good reason”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Medieval prose uses triste for people grieving or troubled: in the Crónica Troiana many are sad for the kinsmen and friends they have lost, and in the Miragres de Santiago the emperor is moy triste.^[8] The older Aulete adds “dark, sombre” (uma casa triste) and “tedious”.^[9]

Today the word also means “wretched, pathetic” (um triste salário).^[10][11] In Portuguese dialects it can mean “weak, poor-looking”.^[12] In southern Brazil triste is also an old kind of popular song of the Pampas.^[13]

Timeline

• 13th century – triste in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[8][3]
• c. 1430 – triste in the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437).^[14]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses triste with Latin moestus and tristis.^[15]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses triste with Latin tristis and moestus.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sad, unhappy, without joy: Ficou triste com a partida do amigo.^[3][17][1]
2. Inclined to sadness; melancholy by nature.^[11][18]
3. Causing or expressing sadness: uma canção triste.^[3][1]
4. gloomy, dark, sombre.^[11][10]
5. pitiful, lamentable; wretched, paltry.^[3][10][1]
6. (informal) Bad, unpleasant, poor in quality.^[18]

Word family

• tristeza
• tristonho
• tristemente
• entristecer

Related words

• Latin trīstis
• Galician triste

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. triste
3. ^ 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. triste
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. triste
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 643
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. triste
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ 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. triste
9. ^ 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. triste
10. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9210
11. ^ a b c 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. triste
12. ^ 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. triste
13. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. triste
14. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. triste
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. triste
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. triste
17. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. triste
18. ^ 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. triste