abrigo

Forms

abrigo m (plural abrigos)^[1] A letter of 1596 spells it abrygo.^[2]

Etymology

It is probably a back-formation from Portuguese abrigar (“to shelter”), recorded from the 13th century like the verb.^[3][4][5][6] Houaiss notes that Latin also had the adjective Latin aprīcus (“sunny”), but only in the sense “exposed to the sun”; the DLP allows a direct origin from the Latin word or the back-formation.^[3][7]

The verb is usually traced to aprīcor (“to bask in the sun”), whose late active form aprīcō meant “to warm in the sun”, hence “to shelter from the cold”.^{[8][4][9][10]} Corominas derives Spanish abrigar the same way, noting that the sense “to protect from the wind” is already in the Latin of Palladius in the 4th century, and treats Spanish abrigo as a noun formed from the verb.^[11] Diez rejected the Latin source because the word is missing in Italian and proposed the Germanic verb that gave German bergen (“to hide, keep safe”), with the /r/ transposed, as Vieira reported in 1871.^[12] Wiktionary considers that view less likely, and gives it as Late Latin *abrīgō from Frankish *birīhan (“to cover, protect”).^[13]

The adjective is the opposite of opācus (“shady”), and de Vaan reports a proposal to analyse it as a compound meaning “looking open”, from a stem *ap(e)ri- “openness”.^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado's first record is a 13th-century cantiga by Pêro da Ponte: A boy uelho non lhi busques abrigo “don't look for shelter for an old ox”.^[5] The Cantigas de Santa Maria call the Virgin abrigo e conssello “protection and counsel” of all sinners.^[15] Machado also points to the place name Abrigosa in a Latin document of 1057.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval language the word meant protection and help as well as a sheltered place.^[15][16] Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 gives it as Latin perfugium “refuge”, and Morais (1789) as protection from cold, wind and storms, the sheltered place itself, and help.^[17][18] The sense “charitable home for the poor, the old or orphans” is in the original Caldas Aulete.^[19] Modern dictionaries add a natural or artificial harbour, a military shelter against fire or bombing (abrigo nuclear), and a warm coat.^[20][7][19]

In the dialects of Portugal an abrigo is a hedge of beech or a dry-stone wall that shields orchards and vineyards, and in the Azores a screen of hydrangeas or reeds.^[21][1] In Rio Grande do Sul it is a place in the open country where travellers can take shelter.^[22]

Timeline

• 1057 – the place name Abrigosa in a Latin document.^[5]
• 13th century – first records, in the cantigas.^[3][5]
• 1500 – first record of abrigada.^[4]
• 16th century – desabrigo and desabrigado are recorded.^[4]
• 1569 – Cardoso enters Abrigo “refuge”.^[17]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as protection against cold, wind and storms.^[18]
• 1871 – Vieira reports Diez's Germanic etymology.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A place that gives shelter; a refuge.^[3][23][1]
2. Anything that protects from the weather; a roof, a cover.^[3][23]
3. A home where the poor, the old, orphans or the homeless are taken in.^[3][23]
4. Any refuge or asylum;^[3][24] (figurative) protection, support.^[3][24]
5. A natural harbour, bay or cove.^[24][20]
6. (military) A shelter against enemy fire or air raids: abrigo antiaéreo.^[20][25]
7. A warm coat worn against the cold.^[19][7]

Related words

• abrigar
• abrigada
• desabrigo
• Latin aprīcus
• Spanish abrigo

Usage notes

Ao abrigo de means “protected by” or “under the protection of”.^[20][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. abrigo
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. abrigo
4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. abrigar
5. ^ a b c d e Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. abrigo
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. abrigo
7. ^ a b c Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. abrigo
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. abrigar
9. ^ Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. abrigar
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. aprico
11. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 21
12. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 1, 36
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. abrigar
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ a b 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. abrigo
16. ^ 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. abrigo
17. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. abrigo
18. ^ 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. 1, 9
19. ^ 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. abrigo
20. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 104
21. ^ 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. abrigo
22. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. abrigo
23. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. abrigo
24. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. abrigo
25. ^ 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. abrigo