cheiro

Forms

cheiro m (plural cheiros)^[1] Houaiss records cheyro in the 14th century and chero in the 15th.^[2]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Portuguese cheirar (“to smell”), as Houaiss, Cunha, Aurélio, the DLP and Wiktionary all explain it.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The verb, written Old Galician-Portuguese cheirar from the 13th century, comes from Vulgar Latin flagrō, which Houaiss warns must not be confused with the classical verb meaning “to burn”.^[6][1] The Vulgar Latin verb is an altered form of Latin fragrō (“to give off a strong or pleasant smell”), by dissimilation according to Wiktionary.^[6][1]

The same verb gave Galician cheirar, Catalan flairar, Occitan flairar and French flairer, and, through Old French, the English flair.^[1] De Vaan follows the derivation of the Latin verb from an adjective meaning “smelling”, from *bʰrh₁g-ro-, comparing Celtic words for “putrid” and Germanic words for “to smell”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the noun to the 13th century.^[2][3] The Cantigas de Santa Maria have a omagen quant' en si mui bõo cheiro dava “the image… gave off a very good smell”, and the Miragres de Santiago Et tã mao era o cheiro dos que morriã “and so bad was the smell of those who were dying”.^[8] The word was used for good and bad smells alike from the start.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Cardoso (1569) renders it with Latin odor and nidor, and Pereira (1697) with odor and fragrantia.^[9][10] Bluteau gives bom cheiro and máo cheiro, and Folqman (1755) o sentido do cheiro “the sense of smell”.^[11][12] Morais (1813) records the figurative cheiro de santidade and morrer em cheiro de santidade, to die with the name of a saint.^[13] Figueiredo (1899) adds aromatic essences and the herbs used in cooking, such as parsley and mint.^[14]

In Brazil the word also names fresh seasoning herbs in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, coriander in Maranhão, and a sachet; in the north-east dar um cheiro is to give a light sniffing kiss on the face.^[15][2][16] Guinea-Bissau Creole has tceru from it.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria speak of a very good smell.^[2][8]
• 14th century – the spelling cheyro.^[2]
• c. 1430 – the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437) uses the word.^[17]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it with Latin odor.^[9]
• 1755 – Folqman records o sentido do cheiro.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais records cheiro de santidade.^[13]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the sense “cooking herbs”.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. smell, odour: what the nose perceives from the particles a substance gives off: Sentia-se um cheiro a pão quente na cozinha.^[2][4][1]
2. The sense of smell; the faro of an animal.^[2][1]
3. A pleasant smell; fragrance, aroma.^[2][4]
4. A scented preparation; perfume.^[2][15]
5. A bad smell; stench.^[2][4]
6. (figurative) A quality that suggests something; a hint or trace.^[2][15]
7. (north-eastern Brazil) A light kiss on the face, more sniffed than kissed.^[2][16]
8. (Brazil) Fresh herbs for seasoning;^[2][15] (Maranhão) coentro, coriander.^[2][15]

Word family

• cheiroso

Related words

• cheirar
• fragrância
• fragrante

Usage notes

Cheiro de santidade “odour of sanctity” is the outward sign of great virtue that, according to devout belief, can be perceived by smell.^[2][5]

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 p Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cheiro
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cheirar
4. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cheiro
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. cheiro
6. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cheirar
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. fragrō
8. ^ a b c 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. cheiro
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cheiro
10. ^ 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. cheiro
11. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cheiro
12. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cheiro
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 387
14. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 287
15. ^ a b c d e 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. cheiro
16. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. cheiro
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. cheiro