ver

Forms

ver (first-person singular present vejo, first-person singular preterite vi, past participle visto)^[1] Houaiss records uéér and uiren in the 13th century, and veer, vee, vejo, viu and vyo in the 14th.^[2] The spelling veer lasted in writing into the 16th century, alternating with ver from the 14th.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin videō (“to see”), written Old Galician-Portuguese veer in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1][5] The /d/ between vowels fell, and the two vowels then in hiatus were contracted, so that the Latin infinitive gave ⟨*veder⟩, then ⟨veer⟩ and ⟨ver⟩.^[6][7]

The same Latin verb is Galician ver, Spanish ver, Catalan veure, French voir, Italian vedere and Romanian vedea, and Old Spanish veer is the old Spanish form.^[8][9]

The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic *widēō, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; to see”).^[1] De Vaan reconstructs a stative verb “to see” on this root, and lists among its cognates οἶδα (oîda, “I know”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded in Portuguese texts from 1214.^[3] Houaiss dates it to the 13th century, with the spelling uéér.^[2] Nascentes quotes veer from the Portuguese translation of the Fuero Real of Alfonso X.^[11] The medieval senses are those of today: to perceive with the eyes, and to grasp with the mind.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712) defines the verb as receiving through the eyes the light that shows things apart, and lists ver bem “to see clearly” and ver com seus proprios olhos “to see with one's own eyes”.^[12] Morais (1813) records the figurative “to know”, “to consider, observe”, fazer ver “to show, prove”, ver-se “to find oneself (in a state)” and ir ver mundo “to travel”.^[13] Modern dictionaries add “to meet”, “to visit” (of a doctor seeing patients) and “to check”.^[2][1] The infinitive is also a noun, “opinion”, in a meu ver.^[14][15] Wiktionary lists set phrases such as ficar a ver navios and para inglês ver.^[1]

Timeline

• 1214 – first record in Portuguese texts.^[3]
• 13th century – the spelling uéér.^[2]
• 14th century – the forms veer, vejo and viu;^[2][3] ver begins to alternate with veer.^[2][3]
• 1496 – ver in the História de mui nobre Vespasiano.^[16]
• 16th century – last use of the spelling veer.^[3]
• 1712 – Bluteau defines the verb.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais records ver-se and ir ver mundo.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To see, perceive with the eyes;^[2][17][1] (intransitive) to be able to see: Sem óculos não vejo nada.^[2][17][1]
2. To look at; to watch (a film, a game): Vimos o jogo na televisão.^[2][1]
3. To be present at, witness: Ninguém viu o acidente.^[2][18]
4. To understand, realise: Só depois vi que ela tinha razão.^[2][1]
5. To check, find out: Vou ver se a porta está fechada.^[18][1]
6. To meet; to visit: Vai ver a avó todos os domingos.^[2][1]
7. (pronominal) To find oneself (in a situation): Viu-se sem dinheiro.^[1][13]

Noun

1. One's view, opinion: a meu ver.^[14][15]

Word family

• rever
• entrever
• antever
• desver

Related words

• inveja
• prover
• vidente
• vídeo
• visão
• visto
• visual
• vista
• prever
• Latin video
• Galician ver

Usage notes

Aurélio records a separate verb ver “to fetch, bring”, with quotations from Machado de Assis (ia ver charutos), possibly an alteration of vir under the influence of ver “to see”.^[17] In informal Brazilian Portuguese the verb is used when ordering at a counter or from a waiter.^[1] The proverb o pior cego é aquele que não quer ver says that the worst blind man is the one who will not see.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ver
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. ver
4. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ver
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ver
6. ^ Williams, Edwin B. (1938), From Latin to Portuguese: Historical Phonology and Morphology of the Portuguese Language, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, p. § 41.12
7. ^ Williams, Edwin B. (1938), From Latin to Portuguese: Historical Phonology and Morphology of the Portuguese Language, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, p. § 99.2
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9319
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. videre
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 522
12. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. ver
13. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 842
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ver
15. ^ a b Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. ver
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. ver
17. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ver
18. ^ a b 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. ver