cicatriz

Forms

cicatriz f (plural cicatrizes)^[1] Houaiss records cicatrice in the 17th century beside cicatriz.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cicātrīx (“scar”), a learned word.^[2][3][1] Cunha dates it to the 16th century, Houaiss to 1670.^[3][2] The same Latin word was borrowed as Spanish cicatriz, Galician cicatriz, Catalan cicatriu, French cicatrice and Italian cicatrice.^[4][5][1] Spanish has it from about 1490 and French from 1314.^[4][5][1]

The Latin word, recorded from Plautus with both a physical and a moral sense, has no known etymology.^[6][5][1] Wiktionary mentions a possible substrate origin.^[6][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha places the first record in the 16th century, and Houaiss's earliest dated text is of 1670.^[3][2] The sense was the mark left by a healed wound.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau in 1712 defines it as the mark left by a wound once it has closed, quoting a surgeon who calls it a hard substance like leather.^[7] Houaiss dates to 1788 the sense of new tissue that repairs a damaged organ.^[2] Figurative senses, a lasting memory of an offence or a misfortune and a trace of destruction, are in the dictionaries from the 19th century, as is the botanical sense of the mark a fallen leaf leaves on the stem.^[8][9] Cicatrizar is recorded from 1813 and cicatrização from 1836.^[3]

Timeline

• 16th century – first record according to Cunha.^[3]
• 1670 – the earliest dated record in Houaiss.^[2]
• 1712 – Bluteau defines it with a surgeon's description.^[7]
• 1788 – the sense of repair tissue in an organ.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as the sign of a closed wound.^[10]
• 1813 – first record of cicatrizar.^[3]
• 1899 – Figueiredo adds the figurative and botanical senses.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A scar, the mark of fibrous tissue left by a healed wound: Tem uma cicatriz no braço.^[2][11][1]
2. (anatomy, botany) New tissue that repairs a damaged organ; the mark left on a stem by a fallen leaf or branch.^[2][12]
3. (figurative) A trace of damage or destruction.^[11][13]
4. (figurative) A lasting memory of a moral pain, an offence or a misfortune; resentment.^[11][12]

Word family

• cicatrizar
• cicatrização

Related words

• cicatrícula
• Spanish cicatriz

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cicatriz
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cicatriz
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 64
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. cicatrice
6. ^ 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, p. s.v. cicātrīx
7. ^ 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. cicatriz
8. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. cicatriz
9. ^ 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. cicatriz
10. ^ 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, 271
11. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cicatriz
12. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2071
13. ^ 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. cicatriz