vencedor

Forms

vencedor m (plural vencedores, feminine vencedora, feminine plural vencedoras)^[1] Medieval texts also write ueçedores (13th century), vençedor and veemcedor (15th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese vencer + -dor.^[1][4][5] Houaiss analyses it as the stem of the past participle vencido, with its thematic vowel, and the suffix -or.^[2] The word is recorded from the 13th century.^[2][6]

The verb vencer continues Latin vincō (“to conquer, win”).^[7][1] Wiktionary traces the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to overcome”), with a nasal infix.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century call the Virgin a Madre do Vencedor “the Mother of the Victor”.^[3][2] A chronicle of 1344 has os vencedores “the victors” of a battle, and a Galician Estoria writes cõmo vençedor “as a victor”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense “one who wins” from the start, used both as a noun and as an adjective.^[2][3] Pereira (1697) renders it with the Latin victor and superior.^[8] Feijó (1734) sets the correct spelling against the form vincedor.^[9] Morais (1813) adds the legal sense, the party who wins a lawsuit, after the Ordenações, and the adjective in armas vencedoras “victorious arms”.^[10] Vieira (1871–1874) quotes the Lusíadas, Já ficou vencedor o Lusitano “the Portuguese was left the victor”, and Herculano's Eurico.^[11]

In modern use, especially in Brazil, a vencedor is also someone who has overcome hardship and made his way in life.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 13th century – a Madre do Vencedor in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3][2]
• 1344 – os vencedores in a chronicle.^[3]
• c. 1430 – the word in the Horto do Esposo.^[13]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it with Latin victor.^[8]
• 1734 – Feijó corrects vincedor to vencedor.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais records the legal sense, the winner of a lawsuit.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A winner, victor: one who wins or has won a contest, a war or a game.^[2][1][14]
2. Someone who has overcome difficulties and succeeded in life.^[2][12]
3. (law) The party in whose favour the final judgment is given, as opposed to the vencido.^[2][10]

Adjective

1. That wins or has won; victorious, triumphant (vitorioso, triunfante).^[2][15][14]

Related words

• vencer
• vencido
• Latin vincō

Usage notes

In law, the voto vencedor is the judge's vote that makes the majority in a judgment.^[2]

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. vencedor
3. ^ a b c d e f 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. vencedor
4. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. vencedor
5. ^ 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. vencedor
6. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. vencedor
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. vencer
8. ^ a b 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. vencedor
9. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. vencedor
10. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 838
11. ^ 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, 896
12. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9425
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. vencedor
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. vencedor
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. vencedor