vivo

Forms

vivo (feminine viva, masculine plural vivos, feminine plural vivas, comparable, comparative mais vivo, superlative o mais vivo or vivíssimo, diminutive vivinho)^[1] Houaiss lists the medieval spellings vivo and uiuua from the 13th century and vyva from the 14th.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vīvus (“living, alive”), written Old Galician-Portuguese vivo in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] The same Latin word is Galician vivo, Spanish vivo, Catalan viu, Occitan viu, French vif, Italian vivo and Romanian viu.^[4][5][1]

The Latin word comes from *gʷīwos, from *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), formed from the root *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”); it is cognate with जीव (jīva), 𐌵𐌹𐌿𐍃 (qius) and βίος (bíos).^[1]

Nascentes observes that the Latin ending ⟨-ivu⟩ did not become ⟨-io⟩, as the sound laws would lead one to expect, and puts this down to the influence of the verb viver.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the word to the 13th century.^[2][3] The cantigas already use it in its basic sense, opposed to morto: mais morto ca vivo “more dead than alive” and são e vivo “safe and alive” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, and enquant' eu vivo for “as long as I live” in the Cancioneiro da Ajuda.^[8] The same texts have carne viva, the living flesh under the skin.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Already in the medieval language the adjective could be used as a noun for a living person.^[9] Morais in 1789 records carne viva “raw flesh”, tocar no vivo “to touch where it hurts”, agua viva “running water”, aguas vivas for the spring tides, and the transferred sense “lively, quick, energetic” of eyes, words and wit.^[10] The figurative senses widened from there to bright colours and light, strong feelings, and quick or cunning people;^[2][11] Brazilian Portuguese uses vivo for someone who takes advantage of others.^[2][11] In linguistics a língua viva is a language still spoken.^[12][1]

As a noun, vivo also names a strip of cloth sewn along a seam as trimming, and in rural Portugal the household's livestock.^[13][14][15] Silva Bastos records this sense for the Alentejo in 1912.^[16]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, spelt vivo and uiuua.^[2][3]
• 13th century, second half – mais morto ca vivo in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[8]
• 14th century – the spelling vyva.^[2]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses olhos vivos and braza viva.^[17]
• 1789 – Morais lists carne viva, agua viva and aguas vivas.^[10]
• 1912 – Silva Bastos records the Alentejo sense “farm animals”.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. alive, living; not dead.^[2][18][1]
2. (of a plant) Not withered or dried up.^[2]
3. lively, full of energy and enthusiasm.^[2][13][1]
4. Quick-witted, clever;^[2][18] (informal) cunning, sly.^[2][18]
5. Intense, strong: of light, colour, smell or pain: uma cor muito viva.^[2][12][1]
6. Heated, animated: uma discussão viva.^[18][13]
7. (linguistics) Of a language: in current use, having native speakers.^[12][1]
8. Lasting, persistent: uma memória ainda viva.^[12][13]

Noun

1. A living being, especially a living person.^[13][14]
2. The sensitive living flesh under the skin; figuratively, the quick, the core of something.^[13][14]
3. A narrow strip of cloth sewn along a seam or edge as trimming; piping.^[13][14]
4. (Portugal, regional) livestock, the animals a household keeps.^[14][15]

Word family

• água-viva
• avivar

Related words

• vida
• vivacidade
• vivaz
• viveiro
• viver
• vívido
• Latin vīvus
• Galician vivo

Usage notes

Ao vivo means “live”, of a broadcast or performance given as it happens.^[14][1] De viva voz is “by word of mouth, orally”, and vivinho da silva “alive and kicking”.^[14][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. vivo
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. vivo
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9420
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. vivus
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. vivo
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. vivo
8. ^ a b c 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. vivo
9. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. vivo2
10. ^ a b 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, 532
11. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. vivo
12. ^ a b c d 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. vivo
13. ^ a b c d e f g 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. vivo
14. ^ a b c d e f g Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9558
15. ^ a b 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. vivo
16. ^ a b Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. vivo
17. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. vivo
18. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. vivo