cova

Forms

cova f (plural covas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cova (“hollow (feminine)”), written Old Galician-Portuguese coua in 1128, Houaiss's earliest record, and Old Galician-Portuguese cova from the 13th century.^[2] The Vulgar Latin form is the feminine of covus (“hollow”), an archaic variant of cavus (“hollow, concave”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Wiktionary also allows a variant of Late Latin cava, the Late Latin noun made from the adjective.^[1] Vieira took the same view, comparing the change of ⟨a⟩ to ⟨o⟩ with fome from famēs, while Figueiredo started from cavea.^[6][7]

Corominas notes the same form in Portuguese and Catalan, and the same word is Galician cova, Spanish cueva (spelt Old Spanish cueba in 963) and Catalan cova.^[8][9] García de Diego also lists a masculine covo in Portuguese and Galician.^[9]

The Latin adjective may belong with Ancient Greek κύαρ (kúar, “hole, eye of a needle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell”); de Vaan reconstructs the form behind the Latin word as *ḱouH-ó-.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Cantigas de Santa Maria the word names natural hollows and caves: a man goes to see the metal of his mines en covas mui grandes “in very large caves” in a valley, a small animal takes birds das covas “from their holes”, and the Virgin enters the cova at Bethlehem to give birth.^[11] The same text already uses it for a grave: Indo con el aa cova chorand' “going with him to the grave, weeping”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) glosses the word with Latin antrum, caverna and spelunca and gives the diminutive covinha.^[12] Bluteau describes it as any natural cavity or one opened by force, and gives the cova dug for planting trees.^[13] Folqman (1755) has the hollow of a tooth, the grave, and the old man que está com os pés para a cova, “who has his feet towards the grave”.^[14] Morais (1813) adds the hollows of the face and the eyes, the cleft of the chin, and cova do ladrão, the hollow at the nape of the neck.^[15] Viterbo records an old sense, an underground granary of the kind called a silo.^[16]

In Brazil the word also names the small mound of hoed earth in which a plant is set, and in Rio Grande do Sul the burrow of a wild animal.^[4][17] Figurative senses lead from the grave to death itself and to a difficult situation.^[2]

Timeline

• 1128 – coua, Houaiss's first record, taken from Machado.^[2]
• 13th century – the spelling cova; the Cantigas de Santa Maria use it for caves and for a grave.^[2][11]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses Cova and gives covinha.^[12]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives the hole for planting trees.^[13]
• 1755 – Folqman records the grave and com os pés para a cova.^[14]
• 1798–1799 – Viterbo explains cova as an underground granary.^[16]
• 1813 – Morais lists cova do ladrão.^[15]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives the word from Low Latin cova.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hole or pit dug in the ground;^[2][4][1] (agriculture) a hole made to sow seeds or set a plant.^[2][4][1]
2. A deep cavity; a cave or cavern.^[2][4][1]
3. Any hollow or depression in the ground or on a surface.^[2][4]
4. A grave.^[2][18][1]
5. (figurative) Death, the end of a life.^[2][19]
6. (figurative) A difficult situation.^[2]
7. A hollow in the body: the socket of a tooth, an alveolus, a pit in the skin.^[18][20]
8. The burrow or hiding place of an animal; a den.^[4][17]
9. (Brazil) A small mound of well-hoed earth in which a plant is set.^[4]

Word family

• coveiro
• covinha

Related words

• côncavo
• caverna
• cavar
• covo
• Latin cavus
• Galician cova
• Spanish cueva

Usage notes

Cova rasa is a plain, humble grave, and descer à cova is a euphemism for dying.^[2] Estar com os pés para a cova or ter os pés na cova means to be close to death.^[2][18][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cova
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. cova
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cova
5. ^ 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. cova
6. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 613
7. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 357
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 282
9. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. cova
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ 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. cova
12. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cova
13. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cova
14. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cova
15. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 489
16. ^ a b Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 315
17. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. cova
18. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. cova
19. ^ 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. cova
20. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2536