vantagem

Forms

vantagem f (plural vantagens)^[1] The older form avantagem (14th century aavantage, avãtagem) is now obsolete.^[2][3] Later spellings were vantaje (1721) and vantájem (1858).^[4] Dialects of Portugal have avantage and vantaja.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French avantage, first as Old Galician-Portuguese avantagem, which lost its first syllable when the a- was taken for the article or a prefix.^{[4][3][1][6][7]} Nascentes cites the loss of the initial vowel from Meyer-Lübke and Nunes, and the old form from Fernão de Oliveira's grammar.^[8] The French word is recorded from 1160–1174 and is formed from avant (“before”) and -age, so that it first meant a lead, “that which goes ahead”, and soon “profit”.^[4][1]

The parallel form is Spanish ventaja, from older Old Spanish aventaja.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Galician General Estoria explains the birthright as a avantage que os primeyros fillos dos rreys ham “the advantage that the first sons of kings have”, and the Crónica Troiana says that whoever is in his own land has a great avantage over those from outside.^[10] The form vantagem itself is recorded from the 15th century.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Aulete lists “primacy, superiority”, “a lead”, “profit” and “victory” (Herculano's consideráveis vantagens of Muslim arms), with fazer vantagem “to exceed”.^[11] In sport it is the margin by which a competitor leads.^[12] In Brazil it is also an extra allowance paid to members of the armed forces, and contar vantagem means “to boast”.^[7][11]

Timeline

• 14th century – aavantage and avãtajem.^[3][2]
• 14th century – first records of avantajar and avantajado.^[3]
• 15th century – first record of vantagem and its plural vantagees.^[4][3]
• 1576 – vãtajen in a private letter.^[13]
• 1836 – desvantagem and desvantajoso in Constâncio's dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A position of superiority or lead over others: A equipa da casa tem vantagem no campo.^[4][7][1]
2. A circumstance that favours someone; a benefit, privilege.^[4][12][1]
3. profit, gain.^[7][12]
4. (sport) The margin by which a competitor leads.^[12]
5. (Brazil) An extra allowance paid to members of the armed forces according to rank or post.^[7]

Word family

• vantajoso
• desvantagem
• desvantajoso
• avantajar
• avantajado

Related words

• avante
• French avantage
• Spanish ventaja

Usage notes

The Brazilian contar vantagem “to boast” and the phrase levar vantagem “to have the upper hand” are common.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. avantagem
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. vantagem
4. ^ 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. vantagem
5. ^ 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. vantagem
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. vantagem
7. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. vantagem
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 519
9. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. ventaja
10. ^ 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. avantage
11. ^ 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. vantagem
12. ^ a b c d 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. vantagem
13. ^ 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. vantagem