cesta

Forms

cesta f (plural cestas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cista (“box, basket”), from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē, “basket, chest”).^[2][3][4][1] Houaiss calls it the popular outcome of the Latin word, which was later borrowed again as a learned doublet.^[2][1]

The same Latin word is Galician cesta, Spanish cesta and Italian cesta.^[5][6][1] The Latin word was borrowed from Greek, and was in turn the source of Old High German kista and other Germanic and Celtic words for a chest.^[7][8] Beekes compares Middle Irish cess (“basket”) and Old Welsh cest (“basket”), and thinks the Greek and Celtic words most likely borrowed from a European source.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date, 1174, is taken from Machado; his first record of the form cesta is from 1278.^[2] Cunha's supplement has a 14th-century record.^[3] The earliest prose record in the dated corpora is in the Horto do Esposo, copied 1390–1437.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) names the grape-harvest basket set under the press spout to strain the must, and Bluteau (1712–1728) says a large, deep basket is called cesto.^[10][11] Morais (1813) lists hand baskets, neck baskets and pack baskets for a donkey.^[12] The word extended to containers of metal, plastic or wood, and to the quantity a basket holds.^[2][13]

Sport gave it the basketball hoop and the point scored through it, and the wicker glove of the game of pelota, which Caldas Aulete gives as Brazilian.^[2][14] In Brazil cesta básica is the monthly basket of basic goods for a family.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1174 – Houaiss's first date, from Machado.^[2]
• 1278 – the form cesta.^[2]
• 14th century – a record in Cunha's supplement.^[3]
• c. 1430 – cesta in the Horto do Esposo.^[9]
• 1569 – Cardoso lists cesta.^[15]
• 1611 – Barbosa names the cesta de vindimar.^[10]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau distinguishes cesta and cesto.^[11]
• 1813 – Cunha's first date for cesteiro.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A basket of woven wicker, straw or similar material, with or without handles or a lid, for keeping or carrying things; cesto.^[2][13][1]
2. A similar container of metal, plastic or wood: uma cesta de papéis.^[2][13]
3. The amount a basket holds: comprou uma cesta de figos.^[2][16]
4. (basketball) The hoop with its net; a basket scored.^[2][17][1]
5. (sport) The wicker glove worn to play pelota.^[2][18]
6. (aviation) The gondola of a balloon.^[2]

Word family

• cesto
• cesteiro
• encestar
• cestinha

Related words

• cista
• Spanish cesta

Usage notes

In Brazil cesta básica is a set of basic food, hygiene and cleaning goods for a family for a month.^[2] Bluteau and Morais distinguish the smaller cesta from the large, deep cesto, which Houaiss takes from cesta with the masculine ending.^[11][12][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. cesta
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cesta
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 110
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 58
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. cista
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. cista
8. ^ a b 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. κίστη
9. ^ a b Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. cesta
10. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cesta
11. ^ 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. cesta
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 378
13. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cesta
14. ^ 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. cesta
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cesta
16. ^ 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. cesta
17. ^ 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. cesta
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. cesta
19. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cesto