artelho

Forms

artelho m (plural artelhos)^[1] The 14th-century form is artillo;^[2][3][4] artelho appears in the 15th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin articulus (“joint, knuckle”), through *articlus, written Old Galician-Portuguese artelho in the old language.^[2][3][5][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned.^[6] Vieira compared the change of ⟨-cl-⟩ to ⟨lh⟩ with Latin apicula > abelha.^[7] The same Latin word was taken again as the semi-learned artigo (1339) and the learned artículo (15th century).^[2]

The same Latin word is Galician artello, Spanish artejo, Catalan artell, Occitan artelh and French orteil.^[1][8] The Spanish word is recorded in 1256.^[9] The French word is an alteration of Old French arteil.^[10]

The Latin word is a diminutive of artus (“joint, limb”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r-tú- (“juncture, ordering”), from the root *h₂er- (“to fit together”).^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Crónica Troiana someone has his feet put in ata os artillos “up to the ankles”.^[4] Machado's first record is a 15th-century treatise on horsemanship, the Ensinança: o bico põoe o pee no artelho “the point [of the spur] rests the foot on the ankle”, in the sense the word kept until the 19th century.^[5][4] Cunha defines the old word as the joint of the leg with the foot.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the Middle Ages to the 19th century the word meant the ankle (tornozelo): Cardoso (1569) and Pereira (1697) render it with Latin talus, Bluteau describes the two bony projections at the bottom of the leg, which doctors called malleoli, and Morais (1789) the head of the bone at the end of the leg.^{[12][13][14][15]} Vieira (1871–1874) still gives only the joint of the foot with the leg.^[7]

The sense “toe” is dated to the 19th century by Houaiss, who attributes it to the influence of French orteil;^[2][6] Nascentes thought the meaning passed from “finger joint” to “toe”, perhaps under French influence.^[2][6] In Brazil it has become the usual dictionary sense: the first Aurélio (1975) defined the word as the ankle, the current one as a toe.^[16][17] In Portugal it still means the ankle.^[18][19][1] Zoologists use it for the segments of the body or limbs of arthropods.^[18]

Timeline

• 14th century – artillos in the Crónica Troiana.^[4][2]
• 1339 – first record of the semi-learned doublet artigo.^[2]
• 15th century – artelho in the Ensinança.^[5]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it with Latin talus “ankle bone”.^[12]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the artelhos do pé as the ankle bones.^[14]
• 19th century – the sense “toe” appears.^[2]
• 1975 – the first Aurélio still defines it as the ankle.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy, chiefly Portugal) The ankle; the rounded projection of the leg bones at the joint with the foot.^{[18][19][2][1]}
2. (anatomy, chiefly Brazil) A toe.^[2][17][1]
3. (anatomy) A joint between bones.^[2][20]
4. (zoology) Each segment of the body or limbs of an arthropod; each toe of the hind limbs of land vertebrates.^[18][2]

Related words

• artigo
• artículo
• articular
• Latin articulus
• Galician artello
• Spanish artejo

Usage notes

Nascentes objected that the word does not mean “toe” but “ankle”.^[21] Michaelis treats the two senses as separate words, the ankle from Latin and the toe from French.^[22] The vowel of the stressed syllable is closed /e/;^[2][20] Priberam gives /ɐ/ as well for Portugal.^[2][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. artelho
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. artelho
4. ^ a b c d e 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. artelho
5. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. artelho
6. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. artelho
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, 589
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. articulus
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. artículo
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. orteil
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. artelho
13. ^ 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. artelho
14. ^ 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. artelho
15. ^ 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, 125
16. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1975), Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p. 166
17. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. artelho
18. ^ a b c d 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. artelho
19. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 968
20. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. artelho
21. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 46
22. ^ 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. artelho