amêndoa

Forms

amêndoa f (plural amêndoas, diminutive amendoazinha)^[1] The 14th century has amendoa beside almendra and almedra.^[2][3] Machado derives almendra, recorded in the 15th century and still a place name, from the same Vulgar Latin form, with an analogical al-.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *amyndula, a popular form of Latin amygdala (“almond”), which is from Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē, “almond”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} Machado notes that the vulgar form is recorded in a Latin glossary and in Iberian charters, in the place names Medieval Latin amindula (960) and amendula (1059), today Almendra.^[4] Corominas lists other Latin forms of the same kind: Late Latin amiddola in the Appendix Probi, amyndala in the Tironian notes and amandula in Oribasius.^[6] Nascentes traces the Portuguese word through an intermediate Old Galician-Portuguese amendola, and Vieira (1871) through the loss of the medial ⟨l⟩.^[5][7]

The same word is Galician améndoa, Spanish almendra, Catalan ametlla, French amande and Italian mandorla.^[1][8][9]

Beekes takes the Greek word for a typical Pre-Greek word, because of the alternation between the consonant groups of its variants.^[10][1] The learned doublet is amígdala “tonsil”, recorded in the 16th century.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A document of the royal chancery of 1167–1174 has et inde pala damendoas, a Romance form inside a Latin text.^[4][2] Houaiss and Cunha date amendoa to the 14th century.^[2][3] Cunha also dates amendoeira “almond tree” to that century.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the fruit and seed of the almond tree.^[2][3] By the 19th century it also meant any seed inside a stone, as the kernel of a peach.^[11] Figueiredo (1899) records the plural amêndoas for the sugared almonds or other presents given at Easter, a use the modern Portuguese dictionaries keep.^[12][13] Brazil applies it to the fruit of the tropical almond tree, and geology to a small mineral-filled cavity in rock.^[2][14]

Timeline

• 960 – the place name amindula in a Latin charter, and amendula in 1059.^[4]
• 1167–1174 – damendoas in a Latin document of the royal chancery.^[4][2]
• 14th century – amendoa, with almendra and almedra, and the derivative amendoeira.^[2][3]
• 15th century – almendra in a text Machado quotes.^[4]
• 16th century – the derivative amendoado and the learned amígdala.^[3][4]
• 1734 – Feijó lists amêndoa, amendoada and amendoeira.^[15]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the plural for Easter presents.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. almond, the fruit of the amendoeira (Prunus dulcis).^[2][14][1]
2. The seed of this fruit, sweet or bitter, eaten in sweets and savoury dishes and pressed for its oil: bolo de amêndoa.^[2][13]
3. Any seed inside a stone or pit; a kernel.^[14][11][1]
4. A sugared almond, or a similar sweet.^[14][16]
5. (Portugal, in the plural) A present given at Easter (Páscoa).^[13][12]
6. (Brazil) The tropical almond tree, amendoeira-da-praia.^[2][14]
7. (petrology) A small cavity in rock, wholly or partly filled with secondary minerals; an amygdale.^[14][11]

Word family

• amendoeira
• amendoado

Related words

• amígdala
• Latin amygdala
• Galician améndoa
• Spanish almendra

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. amêndoa
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. amêndoa
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. amêndoa
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. amêndoa
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 191
7. ^ 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, 368
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. amygdala
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. amygdala
10. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. ἀμυγδάλη
11. ^ 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. amêndoa
12. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 75
13. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 569
14. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. amêndoa
15. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. amêndoa
16. ^ 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. amêndoa