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beijo

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word beijo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1200s Cantigas de Santa Maria More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin basium
Ultimate origin
Latin bāsium
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin bāsium
Italian bacio
Portuguese beijo
Spanish beso
From the same root
Latin bāsiō ← bāsium

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈbe(j).ʒu/, [ˈbe(ɪ̯).ʒu][1]
  • Portugal: /ˈbɐj.ʒu/[1]
  • Northern, Portugal: /ˈbej.ʒu/[1]
  • Central, Portugal: /ˈbej.ʒu/[1]

Forms

beijo m (plural beijos)[1] Houaiss records beijo in the 13th century, beixo in the 14th and beyjo in the 15th.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bāsium (“kiss”), through *baisu, and is written Old Galician-Portuguese beijo in the oldest texts.[2][3][4][1][5] The same Latin word is Galician beixo, Spanish beso, Catalan bes, Occitan bais and Italian bacio.[6][7][1]

De Vaan finds the late attestation of the Latin word suggestive of a loan, possibly from Celtic, since Catullus, who brought it into the written language, came from Verona.[8][4] Wiktionary takes it as probably Celtic, from an expressive root such as Proto-Indo-European *bu-.[1] Unlike ōsculum, the word at first had an erotic sense, so classical authors avoided it; in Imperial Latin it became the ordinary word for a kiss.[8][4] Figueiredo (1899) derived it instead by metathesis from sāvium, for suāvium, from suāvis (“sweet”).[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria have it in the line porque me deste beijo / ora tan muito paguei “because you gave me a kiss, now I have paid so dearly”.[10] Houaiss and Cunha date the word to the 13th century.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word meant a touch of the lips given in love or respect;[11] Morais (1789) adds that it may be given on the face, hand or mouth, or on an object, as a sign of love, respect or religion.[11] Machado's 16th-century example is from Os Lusíadas: No ar lasciuos beijos se vão dando “lascivious kisses are given in the air”.[4] The beijo de paz is the kiss of peace of the liturgy and of reconciliation, and the beijo de Judas false friendship.[2][12][13]

Later senses are figurative: a light touch, as of the sea on the sand; a drink taken straight from the bottle; a lovely person; and the closing formula of an intimate letter.[2][14] In Brazil the word names plants, including maria-sem-vergonha (Impatiens walleriana) and the hibiscus, and in the north-east a sweet of condensed milk and grated coconut.[2][15] In Trás-os-Montes it is the red ear among yellow ones in maize, and in Cape Verde a meringue.[16][17][1] Kabuverdianu has beju and beje.[1]

Timeline

  • 13th century – beijo in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.[10]
  • 14th century – the form beixo.[2]
  • c. 1430 – beijo in the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437).[18]
  • 16th century – lasciuos beijos in Os Lusíadas.[4]
  • 1697 – Pereira glosses Beijo with Latin osculum.[19]
  • 1789 – Morais's definition: a touch with the lips as a sign of love, respect or religion.[11]
  • 1813 – first records of beijoca and beijocar.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A kiss: a touch or press of the lips on a person, an animal or an object, as a sign of love or affection: Deu um beijo na testa do avô.[2][14][1]
  2. A light kiss of respect or reverence, as on the hand.[2]
  3. A closing formula of an intimate letter or message, also in the plural: Beijos a todos.[2]
  4. (figurative) A light, gentle touch: o beijo do vento.[2][14][5]
  5. A drink taken straight from the bottle.[2][20]
  6. (figurative) A lovely, sweet person.[2][14]
  7. (Brazil, botany) The plant maria-sem-vergonha (Impatiens walleriana); also the hibiscus.[2]
  8. (north-eastern Brazil) A sweet made of condensed milk and grated coconut.[15]
  9. (Trás-os-Montes) A red ear of maize among yellow ones.[16][17]
  10. (Cape Verde) A meringue.[1]

Word family

  • beijinho
  • beijoca
  • beijo-de-frade
  • beijo-de-moça

Usage notes

Beijo de Judas is a hypocritical show of friendship by someone about to betray, and beijo de paz a kiss of reconciliation or the liturgical kiss of peace.[2][12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. beijo
  3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. beijar
  4. ^ a b c d e Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. beijo
  5. ^ 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. beijo
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. basium
  7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. basium
  8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. beijo
  10. ^ a b 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. beijo
  11. ^ a b c 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, 176
  12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. beijo
  13. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1329
  14. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. beijo
  15. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. beijo
  16. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. beijo
  17. ^ a b Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org
  18. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. beijo
  19. ^ 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. beijo
  20. ^ 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. beijo

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Beijo.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/beijo. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·