volta

Forms

volta f (plural voltas)^[1] The Crónica Troiana also spells it bolta.^[2]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Portuguese voltar, recorded as Old Galician-Portuguese volta in the 13th century.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The verb goes back to Vulgar Latin *voltō (“to roll, turn over”), contracted from *volvitō, a frequentative of Latin volvō (“to roll, turn round”).^[7][4][1] Houaiss dates the verb only to the 15th century, two centuries after the noun.^[7][3] Nascentes also cites Meyer-Lübke's derivation of the noun directly from Vulgar Latin *volta, a feminine past participle of the Latin verb, which would also account for Spanish vuelta, Catalan volta and Italian volta.^[8]

The Latin verb is from *wolwō, earlier *welwō, from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, round”), the root of Ancient Greek ἐλύω (elúō, “to roll round”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records, in the 13th-century Cantigas de Santa Maria, mean uproar and quarrel: a volta foi no logar grand'’ “the uproar in the place was great”, and a cantiga fears que non crecesse sobr'esto volt' ou baralla / ontre mouros e crischãos “that strife or quarrel might grow over this between Moors and Christians”.^[2] A cantiga d'escarnho of Afonso X has viu volta e guerra “he saw turmoil and war”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The medieval senses “clamour, uproar” and “fight, quarrel”, which the Crónica Troiana also has, are now obsolete.^[3][2] Cunha dates the sense “return” to the 16th century.^[4] Cardoso (1569) renders the word with Latin gyrus “circle”, and Bluteau describes it as a circular movement round a building, a city, a field or the world.^[9][10] Morais (1789) lists the curve of a crozier, a bay or a coast, the ground where a horse is trained, a circular motion, and dar huma volta “to take a short walk”.^[11]

Houaiss's modern senses include return, rotation, a short walk, a circuit, a bend or coil, a reversal, the white collar of clerical and academic dress, a necklace in north-eastern Brazil, a bacterial disease of wine, a compensating payment in the division of property, and a verse repeating the opening lines of a poem.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – volta “uproar, quarrel” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2][3][4]
• 15th century – first record of the verb voltar.^[7]
• 1491 – volta in the Vida de Santo Elói.^[12]
• 16th century – the sense “return”.^[4]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it with Latin gyrus.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais records dar huma volta “to take a short walk”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A return: Esperamos a tua volta antes do Natal.^[3][6][1]
2. A turn, rotation, spin: Deu duas voltas à chave.^[3][6]
3. A short walk or drive, a stroll: dar uma volta.^[3][6][1]
4. A circuit, lap; a way round: a volta ao quarteirão.^[3][6]
5. A bend or curve in a road, river or line.^[3][1]
6. Each turn of a spiral or coil; a loop of thread or rope.^[3][1]
7. A reversal, change of course, volte-face.^[3][1]
8. The white collar worn with the dress of clergy and with academic or legal gowns.^[3]
9. (north-eastern Brazil) A necklace.^[3]
10. (law) A payment that makes up the difference in value between shares in a division or exchange.^[3]
11. (obsolete) Uproar, clamour; a quarrel, fight.^[3]

Word family

• voltinha

Related words

• voltado
• voltar
• volteada
• volteador
• volteante
• voltear
• volteio
• volteiro
• voltejar
• voltejo
• volver
• Spanish vuelta
• Italian volta

Usage notes

The West African river Volta takes its name from the noun: at some point it marked where Portuguese traders turned back.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. volta
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. volta
4. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. volver
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. volta
6. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. volta
7. ^ a b c Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. voltar
8. ^ 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. volta
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. volta
10. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. volta
11. ^ 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, 534
12. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. volta