amora

Forms

amora f (plural amoras)^[1] The oldest form is mora (13th century); amora is recorded from the 15th.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin mōra (“mulberry”), which Houaiss cites from the Mulomedicina Chironis, from Latin mōrum (“black mulberry”).^[2][3][1] The Latin neuter plural was taken as a feminine singular, and the definite article a was later fused with the noun.^[2][3][4][5] Aurélio analyses it as the prefix a- and the Latin word.^[6]

The same Latin word is Galician amora, Spanish mora, Catalan móra, Italian mora and French mûre.^[7][1]

The Latin word is taken from Ancient Greek μόρον (móron, “black mulberry, blackberry”).^[8][1] Beekes leaves the origin of the Greek word open; it has been traced to a *mórom, with Armenian and Celtic cognates.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates mora to the 13th century, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese, and amora to the 15th.^[2] Cunha's and Machado's first record is from the 16th century, in an eclogue of António Ferreira: As sanguinhas amoras, / As maçãas no regaço te lançava “I threw the blood-red mulberries and the apples into your lap”.^[3][10] Machado also notes the place name Moraria in a charter of 960.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word named the fruit of the mulberry tree, the amoreira, and then the blackberry of the bramble (amora de silva), both in Vieira (1871) and in Figueiredo (1899).^[11][12] Aurélio and Porto also use it for the mulberry tree itself.^[6][13]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record, as mora.^[2]
• 15th century – the form amora.^[2]
• 16th century – as sanguinhas amoras in António Ferreira.^[10]
• 1562 – Cardoso's dictionary lists Amora.^[14]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro renders it with Latin morum.^[15]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as the fruit of the mulberry tree.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mulberry, the fruit of the amoreira: Colhemos amoras maduras no quintal.^[2][17][1]
2. A blackberry, the fruit of the bramble.^[17][18][1]
3. The mulberry tree.^[2][6]

Word family

• amoreira
• amorado

Related words

• morango
• mórula
• Latin mōrum
• Spanish mora

Usage notes

Camões gave the word a poetic etymology in Os Lusíadas (canto IX), linking it to amor: as amoras, que o nome têm de amores “mulberries, which take their name from loves”.^[19][11]

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. amora
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. amora
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. amora
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. morum
6. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. amora
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5696
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. mōrum
9. ^ 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. μόρον
10. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. amora
11. ^ 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, 381
12. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. amora
13. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 596
14. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. amora
15. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. amora
16. ^ 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, 77
17. ^ 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. amora
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. amora
19. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. amora