cominho

Forms

cominho m (plural cominhos)^[1] Old forms are comyo (1269), cominno and comyno (13th century) and cuminho (15th century).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cumīnum (“cumin”), borrowed into Latin from Ancient Greek κύμινον (kúminon).^[2][3][5][1] The Greek word, already Mycenaean (⟨ku-mi-no⟩), is a loan from Semitic; compare Biblical Hebrew כַּמֹּון (kammōn) and Arabic كَمُّون (kammūn), ultimately from Akkadian kamūnu.^[6][1][7][8]

The same Latin word is Galician comiño, Spanish comino, Catalan comí, French cumin and Italian cumino.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record, spelt comyo, to 1269.^[2] In the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X spices and cumin (especias e cominnos) are named among offerings.^[4] Both refer to the plant's seed used as a spice.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Because the seed is so small, the word came to mean a trifle or nothing at all: António Vieira's Sermões (edition of 1692) have people choking on a cumin seed, and the DLP still gives “the least thing; nothing”.^[10][11] Spanish made the same image into Spanish cominear, to busy oneself with trifles.^[9] Informal Portuguese also uses cominho for a malicious remark or piece of gossip, and Brazilian slang for money.^[2][12] In Trás-os-Montes the plural names the leaves of heather.^[10] The name is also given to caraway, alcaravia, whose seeds largely replaced those of cumin.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1269 – first record, spelt comyo.^[2]
• 13th century – cominnos in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[4]
• 15th century – the spellings cominho and cuminho.^[2]
• 1692 – an edition of António Vieira's Sermões uses the word for a trifle.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. cumin (Cuminum cyminum), an annual plant of the umbellifer family, native to the Mediterranean, with white or pink flowers.^[2][12][1]
2. The aromatic seed-like fruit of this plant, used as a spice.^[2][11][1]
3. Caraway (Carum carvi), alcaravia, or its seeds.^[2][13]
4. (figurative) The least thing; nothing at all.^[11][10]
5. (informal) A malicious remark; intriga, mexerico.^[2][12]
6. (Brazil, slang) Money, dinheiro.^[2][12]

Related words

• Latin cuminum
• Spanish comino
• Galician comiño

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cominho
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cominho
4. ^ a b c d 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. cominno
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. cuminum
6. ^ 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. κύμινον
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. cumin
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. cominho
9. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 159
10. ^ a b c d 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. cominho
11. ^ a b c 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. cominho
12. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cominho
13. ^ a b 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. cominho