anca

Forms

anca f (plural ancas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *hanca (“hip”), a word of Germanic origin that replaced Latin coxa (“hip”), according to Houaiss, Machado and Wiktionary.^[2][3][1] Machado and Corominas name the source as Frankish *hanka (“hip”), reconstructed from Middle Dutch hanke (“hip”).^[3][4] Wiktionary gives Proto-Germanic *hankō.^[1]

Others think the word reached Portuguese through another Romance language: Nascentes and Aurélio take it through anca or anca, perhaps as a term of horsemanship or veterinary medicine, and Corominas argues the same for the Spanish word, since the Germanic word is peculiar to Low German.^[5][6][4] Cunha allows for interference of hanche, and Bluteau already derived the word from French.^[7][8] Lorenzo sums up both views and leaves the question open.^[9]

The same word is Spanish anca and Italian anca; compare the English haunch.^[10][4][1] Corominas relates the Frankish word to hǫnk (“coil of rope, buckle”) and hank (“handle”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin charter of 1141 already has a place name Campo de anca, but Lorenzo doubts that it is the same word.^[3][9] The first Portuguese records are of the 14th century: a Galician-Portuguese chronicle has pelas ancas do caualo “by the horse's haunches”.^[9][7]

Semantic evolution

The word meant first the hindquarters of a horse, the part behind the saddle, and the human hip.^[7] Cardoso (1569) and Barbosa (1611) render it by Latin coxendix “hip”.^[7][11][12] Bluteau and Folqman record riding phrases: andar nas ancas “to ride pillion” and este cavalo não sofre ancas “this horse won't take a second rider”.^[8][13] Morais (1813) adds figurative uses: ir nas ancas de alguém “to follow close behind someone”, sofrer ancas “to put up with someone”, and in sailors' speech virar a anca “to turn the stern to the wind in a storm”.^[14]

The original Caldas Aulete records a sense in entomology, the basal joint of an insect's leg, which Aurélio and Michaelis still list.^[15][16] In southern Brazil andar em ancas is to ride behind the rider, and tirar em ancas to get someone out of a difficulty.^[17]

Timeline

• 1141 – a Latin charter has the place name Campo de anca.^[3]
• 14th century – ancas “haunches of a horse” in a Galician-Portuguese chronicle.^[9][7]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary has anca, Latin coxendix.^[11]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau derives the word from French and lists riding phrases.^[8]
• 1813 – Morais records the figurative ir nas ancas de alguém and the nautical virar a anca.^[14]
• 1817–1819 – first record of the derivative desancar.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) The hip, each side of the body from the waist to the thigh joint; often in the plural: Pôs as mãos nas ancas e esperou.^[2][1][19]
2. The haunch or croup of a horse or other quadruped; garupa.^[2][6]
3. (entomology) The coxa, the first segment of an insect's or arthropod's leg.^[2][6][16]
4. The part of a garment that covers the hips.^[20]

Word family

• desancar

Related words

• garupa
• French hanche
• Spanish anca

Usage notes

Dar anca is said of a horse that lets a second rider mount behind the saddle.^[2][6] In Portugal pôr as mãos nas ancas describes the defiant pose of someone picking a quarrel.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. anca
3. ^ a b c d Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. anca
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 253
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. anca
6. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. anca
7. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. anca
8. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. anca
9. ^ a b c d 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. anca
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. hanche
11. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. anca
12. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. anca
13. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. anca
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 130
15. ^ 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. anca
16. ^ a b 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. anca
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. anca
18. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. desancar
19. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 632
20. ^ 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. anca