ventilação

Forms

ventilação f (plural ventilações)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ventilātiō (“exposure to the air; winnowing”), first recorded in 1661.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary assigns the Latin source to Late Latin and notes that the word can also be analysed in Portuguese as ventilar with the suffix -ção.^[1] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word.^[4] In Medieval Latin the noun meant winnowing, the time of winnowing, and also the discussion or disclosure of a matter.^[5]

The Latin noun is formed from ventilō (“to expose to a draught, winnow, brandish”) with the suffix -tiō.^[1][6] The verb comes from ventulus (“light breeze”), a diminutive of ventus (“wind”), which de Vaan traces to *wē̆nto- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁-nt-o- (“wind”).^[1][7]

The learned word has the same Latin source as Spanish ventilación, Catalan ventilació, French ventilation and Italian ventilazione.^[1][8] The Latin verb itself lived on in popular words for winnowing such as beldar and ventolare.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record of the word to 1661, in the general sense of the act of ventilating.^[2] Morais's dictionary of 1789 gives it three senses: exposure to the open air, a movement of the air made to renew that of a room, and, in ventilação da questão, the discussion of a question.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “discussion” follows the Latin verb, which could also mean to toss a matter about and examine it.^[11][5] Vieira's dictionary of the 1870s describes ventilation as the operation that keeps the air of a closed space pure, and keeps the figurative sense.^[12] Later dictionaries add a medical sense, the exchange of gases in the lungs (ventilação pulmonar), and the installation that renews or cools the air of a building or machine.^[13][14][15] In Brazil the word was also recorded for a gentle breeze.^[16]

Timeline

• 1661 – first record, according to Houaiss.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais lists the senses “exposure to the open air”, “renewal of the air of a room” and “discussion of a question”.^[11]
• 1813 – Cunha's date for the word, from the second edition of Morais.^[3]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira defines it as the operation that keeps the air of a closed space pure.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or effect of ventilating.^[2][13]
2. The continual passage or circulation of fresh air through a room or space; ventilation, arejamento.^[2][13][17]
3. An installation or system that renews, cools or replaces the air of an enclosed space, or forces air over the parts of a machine.^[15][14][18]
4. (physiology) The movement of gases into and out of the lungs: ventilação pulmonar.^[13][14]
5. (figurative) The airing or discussion of a question.^[17][18]

Related words

• ventilar
• vento
• Latin ventus
• Spanish ventilación

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ventilação
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. venta
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ventilação
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ventilatio
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ventilō
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. ventus
8. ^ 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. ventilación
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9207
10. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. beldar
11. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 16
12. ^ 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, 902
13. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ventilação
14. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9434
15. ^ 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. ventilação
16. ^ 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. ventilação
17. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ventilação
18. ^ a b 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. ventilação