usar

Forms

usar (first-person singular present uso, first-person singular preterite usei, past participle usado)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote usar, ussar and husar;^[2][3] Houaiss records husarmos and uzar in the 14th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ūsō (“to use”), written Old Galician-Portuguese usar in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1] The Latin verb is a frequentative of ūtor (“to use”), formed on its past participle ūsus.^[2][4][5][1] Houaiss, Cunha and Aurélio give it as a reconstructed form; it is recorded in Medieval Latin from the 8th century, and Niermeyer has it in the senses “to observe (a custom)”, “to enjoy (a thing)” and “to wear out”.^{[2][4][6][1][7]} The DLP derives the Portuguese verb from uso with the suffix -ar instead.^[8]

The same Latin verb is Spanish usar, Catalan usar, French user and Italian usare.^[9][10][11] The deponent verb goes back to *oitōr, perhaps from *h₃eyt- (“to take along, fetch”).^[1][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in Galician-Portuguese notarial documents: Maria Rodriguez ussa contenda con o abbade “Maria Rodriguez is pursuing a dispute with the abbot” (1253–1254), and que o usarõ en tempo del Rey don Alfonso “that they practised it in the time of King Alfonso” (1258–1261).^[3] The sense there is “to practise, exercise, hold”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the verb already meant both “to be accustomed to” and “to use, employ”: the Cantigas de Santa Maria have mui gran tenp'aquest'usou “he did this for a very long time” and usou esta oraçon “he used this prayer”, and in a cantiga d'escarnho an old cape tan muito s'usou “has been worn so much”.^[3][13] Houaiss notes that Cunha's medieval index also has the 14th-century senses “to exercise”, “to have dealings with”, “to devote oneself to”, “to enjoy” and “to grow accustomed”, now obsolete.^[2] The sense “to wear (clothes, a beard)” and “to wear out by use” are in Morais (1813) and the original Aulete.^[14][15]

Houaiss and Aurélio still give “to be in the habit of” (usava jantar cedo “he used to dine early”) as a current sense, while Wiktionary labels the construction with an infinitive archaic or dialectal.^[2][6][1]

Timeline

• 1253–1254 – ussa “pursues” in a Galician-Portuguese notarial document.^[3]
• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria use usar for “to do habitually” and “to use”.^[3][2]
• 14th century – Houaiss's first dates for the senses “to make use of (as a means)” and “to treat (someone)”.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses usar with Latin utor.^[16]
• 1755 – Folqman lists usar-se “to be in use”.^[17]
• 1813 – Morais adds “to wear out with use”.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To use, make use of, employ (often with de): usou uma chave velha para abrir a porta.^[2][6][18]
2. To be in the habit of; to do habitually: Ele usa caminhar depois do jantar.^[2][6][1]
3. To use (someone) for one's own ends; to take advantage of.^[2][8]
4. To consume regularly (food, drink, drugs): Na região usa-se muito o azeite.^[2][6][1]
5. To wear (clothes, glasses, a beard, a hairstyle): Ela usa óculos desde criança.^[2][6][18]
6. To wear out by use: Usou os sapatos até se romperem.^[2][19]
7. (reflexive) To be in use or in fashion.^[19][18]

Word family

• usado
• usador
• usança
• usável
• useiro
• desusado

Related words

• uso
• desuso
• usual
• usuário
• usufruir
• Latin ūtor
• Spanish usar

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 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. usar
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. usar
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. usar
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. usar
6. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. usar
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. usare
8. ^ 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. usar
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9093
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. usar
11. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. usar
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 822
15. ^ 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. usar
16. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. usar
17. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. usar
18. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9342
19. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. usar