vibrar

Forms

vibrar (first-person singular present vibro, first-person singular preterite vibrei, past participle vibrado)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vibrō (“to move to and fro, brandish”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][1] Cunha dates it to the 16th century and Houaiss to 1572.^[3][2] The same Latin verb was taken into Spanish vibrar, French vibrer and Italian vibrare, and Spanish first has it in 1599.^[5][6][7] The inherited Portuguese virar comes from a by-form *virō, the REW says.^[5]

De Vaan derives the Latin verb from an adjective *wibro- (“trembling, swinging”) and compares विप्र (vípra, “trembling; seer”) and वेपते (vépate, “to tremble”).^[8] Wiktionary sets it under Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to oscillate, swing”) or *weyb-, since both voicings appear in the cognates.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date is 1572.^[2] Cunha gives the first senses as “to shake, brandish”, and only by extension “to pluck, strike” a string.^[3] Bluteau too defines it as giving a trembling motion to a sword, pike or lance, as if about to strike with it.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th and 18th centuries the word belonged to the language of weapons: Pereira glosses it with Latin vibro and corusco, Feijó equates it with brandir, and Morais in 1813 adds the whip and the phrase arremessar vibrando, to throw with a swing.^[10][11][12] Vieira records it as a term of physics, of a string that vibrates.^[13] The noun vibração is first recorded in 1721, in Bluteau;^[3] Cunha's main article dates it to 1813 and explains it as an adaptation of the French vibration.^[3] From the trembling of strings and voices came the senses “to sound clearly” and “to sing with vibrato”, and figuratively “to be moved” and “to be thrilled”, as a crowd is by a goal.^[2][14][15]

Timeline

• 1572 – Houaiss's first date.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro glosses it with Latin vibro and corusco.^[10]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the brandishing of a sword or lance.^[9]
• 1721 – first record of vibração.^[3]
• 1813 – Morais adds the whip and arremessar vibrando.^[12]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records it as a term of physics.^[13]
• 1873 – first record of vibrátil.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To vibrate, or to make something vibrate; to shake, judder (trepidar): As janelas vibraram com o trovão.^[2][14][16]
2. To wave, make something flutter or swing.^[2][16]
3. To tremble uncontrollably.^[2]
4. To brandish (a weapon); to deliver (a blow or kick).^[2][16]
5. To pluck or strike (a string or instrument): vibrar as cordas da guitarra.^[2][16]
6. To sound, ring out; to have a clear, distinct sound.^[2][14]
7. (music) To sing or play with vibrato; of the voice, to tremble with emotion.^[2]
8. (figurative) To be thrilled or deeply moved: Os adeptos vibraram com o golo.^[2][14][15]

Word family

• vibração
• vibrante
• vibrador
• vibratório

Related words

• virar
• vibrátil
• vibrato
• Latin vibrō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. vibrar
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. vibrar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. vibrar
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 803
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. vibrer
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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. vibrar
10. ^ 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. vibrar
11. ^ 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. vibrar
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 849
13. ^ 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, 936
14. ^ 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. vibrar
15. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9487
16. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. vibrar