colina

colina¹ hill

Etymology tree of colina¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin collis

Catalan coll

Italian colle

Latin collīnus

Latin collīna

Italian collina

French colline

Portuguese colina

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /koˈlĩ.nɐ/^[1]
• Portugal: /kuˈli.nɐ/^[1]

Forms

colina f (plural colinas)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the hill is borrowed from Late Latin collīna (“hilly region”) according to Houaiss, the noun use of the feminine of collīnus (“of a hill”).^[2] Cunha takes it instead from French colline, itself from Italian collina, while Nascentes and Aurélio derive it from the Italian word through Spanish colina.^[3][4][5] Wiktionary leaves both routes open.^[1] Nascentes notes that the Latin word, attested in the Gromaticum Vetus, would have given a popular form *colinha, so the Portuguese word is not inherited, and the REW too treats the Spanish and Portuguese forms as learned.^[4][6][7]

The Spanish word is an Italianism first recorded in 1623, and Corominas observes that its first examples all belong to the language of soldiers who brought it back from Italy.^[8][9] The French word was borrowed in 1555, probably by way of the Italian word, which is recorded before 1363.^[10][11]

The Latin adjective is formed from Latin collis (“hill”) with the suffix -īnus.^[12][1] The noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kl̥Hnís (“hill”), and has cognates in Ancient Greek κολώνη (kolṓnē, “hill”), Lithuanian kálnas (“hill”) and Old English hyll, the ancestor of the English word hill.^[13][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, from 1675, already has the sense of a low hill with gentle slopes.^[2] Cunha also dates the word to the 17th century, with the spelling -lli- in the same century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The spelling collina remained in use into the 19th century: Figueiredo heads the word so in 1899, explaining it as a small mountain or a slope.^[14] Dictionaries of today keep both senses, “low hill” and “hillside, slope”.^[15][5] Houaiss limits the term to an elevation of less than 50 metres.^[2]

Timeline

• 1623 – first record of Spanish colina.^[8]
• 1675 – Houaiss's first record of the Portuguese word.^[2]
• 17th century – Cunha's date for colina and for the spelling collina.^[3]
• 1899 – Figueiredo's dictionary heads the word Collina.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small, rounded hill with gentle slopes, lower than a mountain; a outeiro: Da colina via-se toda a aldeia.^[2][16][1]
2. A hillside or slope.^[15][5]

colina² choline (chemistry)

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /koˈlĩ.nɐ/^[1]
• Portugal: /kuˈli.nɐ/^[1]

Forms

colina f (plural colinas)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the chemical compound is a learned formation from Portuguese cole- + -ina according to Houaiss, who notes that the word was first coined as German Cholin and compares the English word choline, recorded around 1871.^[2] Aurélio also points to the German word.^[2][5] Wiktionary takes it from the English word, and the DLP from French choline.^[1][15] The first element is Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”), as the old Aulete already explained; the compound occurs in bile.^[17][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chemistry) choline, an organic base found in lecithin (lecitina), bile, milk and seeds, important in the metabolism of fats.^[2][15][1]