aljuba

Forms

aljuba f (plural aljubas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic جبة (alǧúbba), from Arabic جبة (jubba, “robe, outer garment”), with the agglutinated Arabic article ⟨al-⟩.^[2][3][4][1] Corriente, Pereira and Vicente record it in Castilian, Catalan, Leonese and Portuguese as “Moorish coat”, and Houaiss glosses the Arabic word “garment, cloak”.^[2][3] It has the cognate Spanish aljuba.^[2][5]

The forms without the article are thought to have travelled through Italy and Provence: gibão (also jubão), Catalan jupa and Italian giubba.^[2] Houaiss traces that Portuguese word to gippone, from the Italian noun, from the same Arabic word.^[6] Dozy and Engelmann already derived Spanish juba, giuppa and French jupe from it.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Viterbo cites a document of Pombeiro of 1399, describing the aljuba as a full-length Moorish garment with sleeves.^[8] Houaiss's first record is from 1453, spelt alguba.^[3] Machado quotes a 15th-century chronicle: meteo as maãos de só huũa aljuba que trazia “he put his hands under an aljuba that he was wearing”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word named a Moorish robe that Christians also wore: Aurélio records it as a long garment with wide sleeves worn by Portuguese women in the 14th and 15th centuries and imposed on the Moors by the Ordenações Afonsinas.^[9] Bluteau calls it an Arabic word for a Moorish garment, said to be long and sleeved, and quotes the Monarchia Lusitana on the aljubas allowed to the Moors.^[10] A 14th-century law also imposed it on Jews, marked with a six-pointed star of coloured cloth.^[3][9]

Viterbo identified it with the later jaqueta, which he took to be a corruption of the diminutive aljubeta.^[8][11] Vieira equates it with the gibão.^[8][11] Today it is a historical term.^[3]

Timeline

• 1399 – a document of Pombeiro, cited by Viterbo.^[8]
• 1453 – alguba;^[3][4] aljuba in the 15th century.^[3][4]
• 1500s – Sá de Miranda's Vilhalpandos speaks of rich aljubas, as Vieira quotes.^[11]
• 1712 – Bluteau enters aljuba as a Moorish garment.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A short jacket with half sleeves or none, like a waistcoat; a gibão.^[3][9][12]
2. (historical) A wide Moorish tunic reaching to the knees or feet, with wide sleeves, fitted at the waist.^[3][12][13]
3. (historical) A garment imposed on Jews in the 14th century, marked with a six-pointed star of coloured cloth.^[3][9][12]

Word family

• aljubeta

Related words

• gibão
• Spanish aljuba

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. aljuba
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. aljuba
4. ^ a b c d Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. aljuba
5. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. aljuba
6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. gibão
7. ^ Dozy, Reinhart; Engelmann, W. H. (1869), Glossaire des mots espagnols et portugais dérivés de l'arabe, 2nd ed., Leyde: Brill
8. ^ a b c d Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 6
9. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. aljuba
10. ^ 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. aljuba
11. ^ a b c 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, 312
12. ^ 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. aljuba
13. ^ 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. aljuba