universo

Forms

universo m (plural universos)^[1] Fifteenth-century texts spell it hunyuersso and vniuerso.^[2]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin ūniversum (“the whole, the universe”), the noun use of the neuter of ūniversus (“all together, whole, entire”).^[1][2][3][4] Houaiss gives the adjective as the source and dates the word to the 15th century.^[2] Cunha takes the neuter noun and dates it to the 16th.^[2][4]

The Latin adjective is formed from ūnus (“one”) and versus (“turned”), the past participle of vertō (“to turn”), so that it meant “turned into one, combined into one whole”.^[1][5] Old Latin spelt it with -uors-, as in the plural oinuorsei of an inscription.^[6] The neuter noun rendered Ancient Greek τὸ ὅλον (tò hólon, “the whole”).^[7]

The same Latin word gave Spanish universo, Italian universo and French univers, the French noun recorded from about 1530.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 explains universo as “the whole made of parts” and still gives it as the adjective, Latin universus.^[8] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines the noun as everything God created, heaven, earth, water, fire and the Empyrean, and discusses Epicurus's idea of many universes; he adds that the word is used more particularly of the earth and all its nations, as when Christ sent the apostles to preach to the whole Universo.^[9] Morais (1813) has both the noun, all that God created, and the adjective in o universo mundo “the whole world”.^[10]

Vieira (1871–1874) gives the astronomical sense, the boundless system of planets, comets, suns and stars, then the solar system, the inhabitants of the earth, and any material, intellectual or moral domain compared to a universe.^[11] Houaiss and Aurélio keep these senses and add the technical ones of statistics and linguistics, a set taken as the total of reference.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records, spelt hunyuersso and vniuerso.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa explains it as “the whole made of parts”.^[8]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the noun as all that God created.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais records the noun and the adjective.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira gives the astronomical sense first.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The universe: everything that exists or is thought to exist in time and space, taken as a whole; the cosmos (cosmo).^[2][12][1]
2. The solar system.^[2][12]
3. The whole earth, the world; by extension all its inhabitants.^[2][13]
4. (figurative) A whole made of parts in harmony.^[2]
5. A set taken as a total of reference, as in statistics: um universo de duzentos alunos.^[2]
6. (figurative) A field or domain, moral, intellectual or artistic, in which something takes place; the surroundings in which someone lives or works.^[2][14]
7. (astronomy) Space with the energy and all the celestial bodies it contains.^[2][15]

Adjective

1. Universal, general; whole, entire.^[2][13][16]

Related words

• universal
• universidade
• Latin ūniversus

Usage notes

In the senses “the whole of what exists”, “the solar system” and “the world” the word is often written with a capital, Universo.^[2][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. universo
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. universo
4. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. universo
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. ūniversus
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ūniversus
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. univers
8. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. universo
9. ^ 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. universo
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 820
11. ^ a b 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, 861
12. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. universo
13. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. universo
14. ^ 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. universo
15. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9319
16. ^ 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. universo