cilha

Forms

cilha f (plural cilhas)^[1] Medieval texts spell the word ssinlha and cjnlha (1364), çenlha and çilla (14th century); cilha appears in the 15th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cingula (“girth”), from cingō (“to gird”); the oldest texts write it Old Galician-Portuguese cinlha, Old Galician-Portuguese çenlha and Old Galician-Portuguese çilla.^[2][3][4][5] In the old form with ⟨nlh⟩ the nasal resonance was absorbed by the palatal consonant, as Nunes explains.^[4] Because the group ⟨ngl⟩ usually gives ⟨nh⟩, as in unha from ungula, Leite de Vasconcelos proposed a Latin form *cigula, which would give the modern word as tēgula gave telha.^[4] Meyer-Lübke thought the form unnecessary.^[4]

The same Latin word is Spanish cincha, Italian cinghia and French sangle.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin law of 1253 already has scinlia de asino “a donkey's girth”, with the Romance form.^[4] In Portuguese the word is recorded from 1364, spelt ssinlha and cjnlha, as the band that holds a saddle or load on a beast.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed the same since the Middle Ages: a band of leather or strong cloth passed under the belly of a horse or mule to hold the saddle or the load.^[2][7] Folqman (1755) gives the word for the beast's girth, and a second cilha, a place where beehives stand.^[8] The original Caldas Aulete adds cilha mestra, the girth over the saddle or load, and the webbing nailed across the frame of a bed or chair to form its bottom.^[9][2] In Rio Grande do Sul the usual word is cincha.^[10]

Timeline

• 1253 – scinlia in a Latin law.^[4]
• 1364 – first Portuguese record, spelt ssinlha and cjnlha.^[2]
• 14th century – çenlha and çilla.^[2][3]
• 15th century – the spelling cilha.^[2][3]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it with Latin cingula.^[7]
• 1620 – a private letter spells it çirlha.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A girth, a wide band of leather or strong cloth passed under the belly of a horse or pack animal to hold the saddle (sela) or load.^[2][5][1]
2. A strip of strong cloth or leather nailed across the frame of a bed or seat to form its bottom.^[2][12]

Word family

• cilhar
• encilhar
• encilhamento

Related words

• cingir
• Latin cingula
• Spanish cincha

Usage notes

Cilha is a different word from silha “stand for beehives”, with which the dictionaries contrast it.^[9][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cilha
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cilha
4. ^ a b c d e f g Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 118
5. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cilha
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. cincha
7. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cilha
8. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cilha
9. ^ a b 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. cilha
10. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 1, s.v. cilha
11. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. cilha
12. ^ 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. cilha
13. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. cilha