voto

Forms

voto m (plural votos)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vōtum (“vow, promise to a god; wish”), written Old Galician-Portuguese voto and Old Galician-Portuguese uoto in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1] Wiktionary calls it partly borrowed, and García de Diego treats the Spanish word as learned.^[1][5] The Latin noun is the past participle of voveō (“to promise, vow”).^[6][7]

The inherited outcomes of the Latin word are bodo “food given to the poor on feast days” and boda “wedding”, from the neuter plural, after the vows spoken at a marriage.^[1][8][9] Lorenzo finds the older form Old Galician-Portuguese vodo only in Latin charters of 1255, as a variant of the word for alms.^[4] The borrowing is also Spanish voto, and the same Latin word gave Catalan vot, Italian voto and French vœu.^[1][5]

Nascentes considers the sense “vote in an election or assembly” an anglicism, after English vote.^[10][11] Cunha instead attributes the matching sense of the verb votar to French voter.^[3] De Vaan traces the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *h₁wogʷʰ-éye- (“to promise”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Miragres de Santiago say that the saint hears sinners' prayers and receives their vows (rreçebe os seus votos).^[4] The Crónica of 1344 tells of a man who fez voto e promissom d'entrar ẽ ordem “made a vow and promise to enter a religious order”.^[4] These first records have the sense “solemn promise to God or a saint”.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Cunha defines the original sense as a promise or an offering made in fulfilment of one, and the later sense as voting.^[3] Bluteau (1712–1728) treats the vow at length, and records in the village government of Goa the sense “voice, suffrage” in bidding and auctions.^[12] Folqman (1755) already has voto “suffrage”, as in giving one's vote for someone.^[13] Morais (1789) adds votos denodados, the vows of knights to perform a dangerous feat in battle.^[14] Cunha's addenda date votação to 1836.^[3]

Modern senses include a religious vow (of chastity, poverty, obedience), a wish expressed to someone, a vote, the act of voting, a ballot paper and approval.^[2] Brazilian expressions include voto de cabresto, an open vote cast as the local boss dictates, and voto de Minerva, the casting vote.^[15][2]

Timeline

• 14th century – first records, spelt voto and uoto.^[2][3]
• 1344 – the Crónica of 1344 has fez voto e promissom.^[4]
• c. 1450 – the Livro das tres vertudes (copy after 1450) uses voto.^[16]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the Goan sense “suffrage”.^[12]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses voto as Latin suffragium.^[13]
• 1789 – Morais records votos denodados.^[14]
• 1836 – first record of votação.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vow, a solemn promise made to God or a saint: Fez um voto a Nossa Senhora.^[2][17][1]
2. An offering made in fulfilment of such a promise.^[2][17][1]
3. (religion) A vow taken by members of a religious order: voto de pobreza.^[2][17]
4. A wish, and its expression: Envio-te votos de boa viagem.^[2][18]
5. A vote, the expression of one's choice in an election or assembly; sufrágio.^[2][17][1]
6. The act or process of voting, and its result.^[2][1]
7. A ballot paper.^[2][19]
8. (figurative) Approval, agreement.^[2]

Related words

• votação
• votante
• votar
• votivo
• bodo
• boda
• Latin vōtum

Usage notes

Michaelis and the Portuguese Wiktionary also record voto as the name of the Votic language, spoken in Ingria.^[18][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. voto
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. voto
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. voto
5. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. votum
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. vōtum
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9458
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. boda
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. voto
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. 529
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. voto
13. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. voto
14. ^ 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, 536
15. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. voto
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. voto
17. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. voto
18. ^ a b 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. voto
19. ^ 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. voto
20. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. voto