algodão

Forms

algodão m (plural algodões)^[1] Old forms are algodõ and algodom (13th century), algodã (14th century), alguodom and algodam (15th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic قطن (quṭun, “cotton”), taken with the Arabic article ال (al-) fused to the noun, from Arabic قُطْن (quṭn).^{[4][2][3][5][1]} Machado explains the Arabic form with a second vowel as a colloquial one, found in the Arabic West beside the classical form.^[5] Houaiss notes that the plant was brought into al-Andalus in the 12th century, while Corominas, after Neuvonen, puts its introduction in Spain in the first half of the 10th.^[2][6] Vieira (1871) explained the consonants by the rules of Portuguese sound change: the ⟨q⟩ sank to the guttural ⟨g⟩ and the ⟨t⟩ to ⟨d⟩.^[7]

The same Arabic word gave Spanish algodón, recorded as algoton as early as 950, while Catalan cotó and Italian cotone took it without the article.^[6] From these two it spread to the other western languages.^[6][8] The word cotão (“down on fruit”) comes from the same word, by metonymy, and Wiktionary calls it a doublet.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates algodõ to 1279, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese, and Machado cites algodõ from a 13th-century document.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Friederici quotes early records from the voyages: camisas brancas dalgodom “white cotton shirts” from the Roteiro (1499), pannos dalguodam “cotton cloths” from Pacheco Pereira (about 1510), and algodoal “cotton field” from Nóbrega (1549).^[9] Soares de Souza noted in 1587 that the Indians called cotton maniim.^[9] Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 translates the word with Latin gossipium and xilon.^[10] Morais (1813) has algodão em lã, cotton cleaned of its seeds but not yet spun.^[11]

Medical uses brought algodão hidrófilo “cotton wool”, and sailors use the word for heaped clouds (cumulus).^[2][12] Ser algodão entre cristais “to be cotton between glasses” is said of someone who keeps peace between enemies.^[13][12]

Timeline

• c. 950 – Spanish algoton, the earliest Ibero-Romance record.^[6]
• 1279 – algodõ, the first Portuguese record.^[2]
• 14th century – algodão and algodã.^[2]
• 1499 – camisas brancas dalgodom in the Roteiro.^[9]
• 1549 – algodoal “cotton plantation” in Nóbrega.^[9]
• 1556 – algodão in a private letter.^[14]
• 1611 – Barbosa's dictionary lists algodão.^[10]
• 1871 – Vieira explains the change of Arabic q and t to Portuguese g and d.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The soft white fibre that covers the seeds of the cotton plant (algodoeiro), used for spinning: uma camisola de algodão.^[2][13][1]
2. Thread or cloth made from this fibre; cotton.^[2][15][1]
3. (botany) The cotton plant, algodoeiro.^[2][13]
4. Cotton wool for medical or cleaning use;^[2][13] algodão hidrófilo.^[2][13][16]
5. The down that covers the leaves and other parts of some plants.^[15][17]
6. (meteorology, informal) A heaped white cloud, a cumulus (cúmulo).^[2][13][12]

Word family

• algodoal
• algodoeiro
• algodão-doce
• algodoaria

Related words

• cotão
• Spanish algodón
• Arabic قُطْن (quṭn)

Usage notes

Algodão em rama is raw cotton, not yet processed.^[2][13] Algodão-doce is candyfloss, a sweet of spun sugar.^[16][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. algodão
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. algodão
4. ^ a b Corriente, Federico; Pereira, Christophe; Vicente, Ángeles (2019), Dictionnaire des emprunts ibéro-romans: emprunts à l'arabe et aux langues du monde islamique (Encyclopédie linguistique d'Al-Andalus 3), Berlin: De Gruyter, p. s.v. alcotón
5. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. algodão
6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 161
7. ^ 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, 301
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. algodón
9. ^ a b c d Friederici, Georg (1947), Amerikanistisches Wörterbuch, Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter, p. 47
10. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. algodão
11. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 93
12. ^ a b c 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. algodão
13. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. algodão
14. ^ 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. algodão
15. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. algodão
16. ^ a b 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. algodão
17. ^ 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. algodão