ABSTRACT
The article investigates changes in the semantic field of the word soberba in Portuguese writing of the eighteenth century. It first presents the word as a religious concept appearing in the works of clerics who published in Portuguese in the first half of the century. Soberba defined the sin of the “bad angel” who broke with divine authority. The article then analyzes how this religious meaning was viewed in the Portuguese lexicographic production throughout the century. Finally, it investigates the presence of the term in the texts that guided the educational reforms in Portugal, in which it is possible to observe the secularization of its meaning. However, the meaning of the term did not change completely: the reformers appropriated the traditional religious network of senses, but altered some of its meanings.
Keywords
Soberba; Word History; Portuguese Scholars; Educators; Christian Ethics