burrico

Forms

burrico m (plural burricos)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin burricus (“small horse”), with the stress moved onto the ending, a shift helped by the Portuguese suffix -ico.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The DCECH explains both this word and Spanish borrico from Vulgar Latin *burriccus, with the influence of the diminutive suffix, and notes that the Latin noun appears in texts of the 3rd to 7th centuries.^[7] Wiktionary derives the Latin noun from burrus (“red, reddish-brown”) with a suffix, perhaps mixed with a form with long u and single r; the DCECH reports that Ernout and Meillet suspected a Germanic origin.^[1][7]

Galician burrico is the same word.^[8] The REW also lists Italian bricco and French bourrique, which came through the southern dialects, but the DCECH holds that only the Portuguese and Castilian words are genuine descendants.^[6][7] Houaiss and Machado take burro as a back-formation from the Latin diminutive, while Cunha derives it from the Latin adjective for “red”.^[9][5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin charters of 1188–1230 already use the Romance word: Por borrico que dampno fecerit I denarium “for a donkey that does damage, one denarius”.^[5][2] Isidore of Seville had written mannus, quem vulgo burricum vocant “a pony, which people commonly call burricus”.^[11] In Portuguese texts no early record is given;^[12] Morais's dictionary of 1789 defines the word as a small donkey.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense of a small donkey, and in Brazil it is used for any donkey.^[2][4][13] In Mato Grosso and Amazonas it names an insect, a rove beetle also called potó, whose secretion irritates the skin.^[2][14][4] In parts of Portugal a burrico is the foal of a she-ass.^[15] The word passed into the creoles of Suriname as Sranan Tongo buriki, Aukan buliki and Saramaccan bulíki.^[1]

Timeline

• 1188–1230 – Latin charters use borrico.^[5][2]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as a small donkey.^[12]
• 1813 – Cunha's date for the word.^[3]
• 1899 – Figueiredo explains it as a diminutive of burro.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small donkey; burrinho.^{[2][4][17][1]}
2. (Brazil) Any donkey, jumento.^[2][4]
3. A jackass kept for breeding.^[18]
4. (Brazil: Mato Grosso, Amazonas) A rove beetle whose secretion causes itching and lesions on the skin; potó.^[2][14][4]
5. (Portugal, regional) The foal of a she-ass.^[15]

Related words

• burro
• burrinho
• Latin burricus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. burrico
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. burrico
4. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. burrico
5. ^ a b c d Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. burro
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1413
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 634
8. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. burrico
9. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. burro
10. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. burro
11. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 1, 82
12. ^ 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, 203
13. ^ 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. burrico
14. ^ 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. burrico
15. ^ 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. burrico
16. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. burrico
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1579
18. ^ 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. burrico