usufruto

Forms

usufruto m (plural usufrutos)^[1] Houaiss records uso froyto (1384), uso do frutio (14th century), usufructo (16th century), usofructo (1634) and usufrûto (1721).^[2] Cunha gives uso froito in the 14th century and usofruito in the 17th.^[3] Barbosa (1611) and Silva Bastos (1912) head the word usufructo;^[4][5] Silva Bastos already prefers usufruto.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin ūsufrūctus, written Old Galician-Portuguese usofroyto in the oldest texts.^[1][2] Houaiss calls it a legal Latin term, “the right to use and enjoy property one does not own”, and Cunha traces it to the phrase ūsus et frūctus (“use and enjoyment”).^[2][3][1] Classical Latin wrote it both as a phrase and as one word: Lewis & Short quote both the phrase and the single word ūsusfructus from Cicero.^[6] Its parts are ūsus (“use”), from ūtor (“to use”), and frūctus (“enjoyment; fruit”).^[7][1]

The medieval spellings ⟨froyto⟩ and ⟨froito⟩ show the second part with the same popular development as Old Galician-Portuguese fruito, the old form of fruto; the 16th-century ⟨usufructo⟩ is spelt as in Latin.^[2][3] French usufruit is the French counterpart.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is uso froyto, of 1384, already a term of law for the enjoyment of another's property.^[2] Cunha dates uso froito to the 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense, the right to use something that belongs to someone else and to take its fruits without changing its substance, has stayed the core of the word.^[2][9] Vieira defines it as a part split off from the right of ownership: the right to use a thing and take its fruits, but not to destroy or sell it.^[10] The original Caldas Aulete cites its definition in the Portuguese Civil Code.^[11] From the legal term grew the general senses “enjoyment, fruition” and “what one enjoys”.^[2][12] The verb usufruir appears only in 1881, in the first Caldas Aulete.^[13]

Timeline

• 1384 – first record, uso froyto.^[2]
• 14th century – uso froito and uso do frutio.^[3][2]
• 16th century – the Latin spelling usufructo.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa enters usufructo with Latin ususfructus.^[4]
• 1634 – usofructo; 17th century – usofruito.^[2][3]
• 1721 – usufrûto.^[2]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira gives the full legal definition.^[10]
• 1881 – first record of the verb usufruir.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) usufruct: the right, for a time, to use and enjoy property that belongs to another and to take its fruits and profits, without altering its substance or purpose.^[2][9][1]
2. The possession or enjoyment of something under that right.^[2][14]
3. The act of enjoying something (usufruir); fruição, enjoyment.^[2][12][1]
4. What one enjoys; the income (rendimento) of the thing enjoyed.^[2][14]
5. The use of an opportunity or advantage.^[2]

Related words

• usufruir
• usufrutuário
• uso
• fruto
• fruir
• Latin ūsus
• Spanish usufructo

Usage notes

Brazilian law distinguishes usufruto legal, imposed by law (as the parents' use of the property of children who are minors), usufruto vitalício for life, usufruto temporário for a fixed time, and usufruto impróprio on things that are consumed in use.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. usufruto
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. usar
4. ^ a b c Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. usufructo
5. ^ a b Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. usufruto
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. usus
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ūsus
8. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. usufruto
9. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. usufruto
10. ^ 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, 865
11. ^ 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. usufruto
12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. usufruto
13. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. usufruir
14. ^ 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. usufruto