vigilante

Forms

vigilante m or f (plural vigilantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vigilāns (“watchful, alert”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][1] Cunha calls it the learned doublet of the popular vigiante.^[3] The Latin adjective is the present participle of vigilō (“to stay awake, keep watch”), from vigil (“awake, watchful”), which Wiktionary derives from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be strong, lively, awake”).^[5][1]

The same Latin word gave Spanish vigilante, Catalan vigilant, French vigilant and Italian vigilante.^[6][1] Cunha dates the Portuguese word to the 16th century, Houaiss to 1650.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's 1650 record is from the Monarchia Lusitana, which Bluteau also quotes: estavão elles tão vigilantes “they were so watchful”.^[2][7] The sense is “attentive, careful, alert”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau and Morais know only the adjective, with examples such as prelado vigilante “a watchful prelate”.^[7][8] The noun “person who keeps watch” is recorded by the end of the 19th century, with a freemasons' sense, the brother who watches over the security of the lodge.^[9][10] In modern use the noun means above all a security guard.^[2][11][1] In Minas Gerais it is also the name of a bird, and a Brazilian dialect survey records it for the person who chaperones a girl and her suitor.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 16th century – first record, according to Cunha.^[3]
• 1650 – vigilantes in the Monarchia Lusitana.^[2][7]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau glosses it as “attentive, careful”.^[7]
• 1813 – Morais defines it as “endowed with vigilance”.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Keeping watch; vigilant, watchful, alert: O guarda manteve-se vigilante toda a noite.^[2][13][1]
2. Careful, cautious, zealous (zeloso), diligent.^[2][13][14]

Noun

1. A person who keeps watch.^[2][13][14]
2. A person paid to guard a place or property; a security guard, a sentry (sentinela).^[2][11][1]
3. (freemasonry) An officer who watches over the security of the lodge.^[9][10]
4. (Minas Gerais) A small bird, Charitospiza eucosma, also called mineirinho.^[2][10]

Word family

• vigilantemente

Related words

• vigiar
• vigiante
• vigilância
• vigília
• vígil
• Latin vigilāns

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. vigilante
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. vigiar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. vigilante
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. vigilans
6. ^ 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. vigilante
7. ^ a b c d e Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. vigilante
8. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 852
9. ^ a b Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. vigilante
10. ^ 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. vigilante
11. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9504
12. ^ 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. vigilante
13. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. vigilante
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. vigilante