Etymologically
Log in

covo

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word covo

Portuguese has two words spelt covo: the adjective “concave, hollow”, from Latin, and the noun for a wicker fish trap, a shortened form of côvão.[1][2] Cunha numbers the trap covo².[3]

covo1 concave

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1300s
Inherited from
Latin covus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *ḱouH-ó-

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈko.vu/[2]
  • Portugal: /ˈko.vu/[2]
  • Northern, Portugal: /ˈko.bu/, [ˈko.βu][2]

Forms

covo (feminine cova, masculine plural covos, feminine plural covas)[2]

Etymology

The word for “concave” is inherited from Latin covus (“hollow”), an archaic variant of cavus (“hollow, concave”).[1][4][5] Nascentes notes that the Latin variant is cited by Paulus Festus, and Michaelis takes it for a Vulgar Latin form.[6][7] Wiktionary derives the word directly from the classical form.[2] Vieira (1873) did the same, assuming a change of vowel.[8] The REW lists the Portuguese adjective under that variant, beside cova (“pit, grave”), Catalan cova and Spanish cueva “cave”.[9] The adjective also exists in Galician covo.[10]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *kawo- from an older *kowó-, and traces it to *ḱouH-ó- (“hollow”).[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the adjective to the 14th century, on the evidence of Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.[1]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) defines the adjective as “concave”.[12] Vieira (1873) gives “concave and deep”, with the example prato covo “deep plate”, which Figueiredo also uses.[8][13] As a noun the word means a hollow, anything concave, and the old Caldas Aulete quotes Ricardo Jorge on o imenso covo da cúpula “the vast hollow of the dome”.[1][14] In Portuguese dialects covo is also a deep plate.[15]

Timeline

  • 1300s – first record, according to Houaiss.[1]
  • 1789 – Morais's dictionary lists the adjective.[12]
  • 1873 – Vieira derives it from Latin cavus.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. concave, hollow, deep: Serviu a sopa numa tigela cova.[1][4][2]

Noun

  1. A hollow; something concave, shaped like a cova.[1][5]
  2. (Portugal, regional) A deep plate (prato).[15][16]

covo2 fish trap

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1712 Bluteau's dictionary
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek κόφινος

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈkɔ.vu/, /ˈko.vu/[2]
  • Portugal: /ˈkɔ.vu/, /ˈko.vu/[2]
  • Northern, Portugal: /ˈkɔ.bu/, [ˈkɔ.βu], /ˈko.bu/[2]

Forms

covo m (plural covos)[2]

Etymology

The word for the fish trap is from Portuguese côvão (“fishing basket”), shortened: Houaiss explains it as an apocope with loss of the nasal vowel, Cunha as a back-formation.[1][3] Aurélio explains it by a change of the stressed vowel instead.[4] The DLP suggests instead that it may come from cova.[5]

The longer word goes back to Latin cophinus (“basket”), from Ancient Greek κόφινος (kóphinos, “basket”).[17][2] Cunha takes it as an adaptation of French coffin, itself from the Latin word.[3] The same Latin word gave Spanish cuévano (“deep basket”), Catalan cove and Italian cofano; the DCECH counts the Portuguese trap among them.[18][19] The REW too calls the Portuguese word a back-formation.[19] Wiktionary calls it a doublet of cobo.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date, 1712, is Bluteau's dictionary, which refers covão de pescar “fishing covão” and covão de gallinhas to covo.[1][20] Cunha dates the trap sense to 1813, Morais's second edition, and the longer côvão to the 14th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

Folqman (1755) distinguishes the cóvo de gallinhas, a coop for hens and chicks, from the cóvo de pescar, which he renders with Latin nassa.[21] Morais (1789) describes the trap as a long wicker basket with a funnel-shaped mouth that lets the fish in but not out.[12] In Brazil the word names a fish trap made of mats set on stakes and weighted with lead;[4][1] Aurélio quotes Franklin Távora's O Cabeleira on mending covos for shrimp.[4][1] Portuguese dialects use it for a lobster trap of netting and for a basket in which a hen sits on her eggs.[15] In Alagoas it is slang for a cheap watch.[22][7]

Timeline

  • 1300s – Cunha's date for the full form côvão.[3]
  • 1712 – Bluteau refers covão de pescar to covo.[20]
  • 1755 – Folqman lists the hen coop and the fish trap.[21]
  • 1789 – Morais describes the wicker trap.[12]
  • 1813 – Cunha's date for the trap sense.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (fishing) A long wicker basket used to catch fish.[1][23]
  2. (fishing) A fish or lobster trap of netting on a hoop, or in Brazil of mats on stakes: Lançaram os covos junto às pedras.[1][4][2]
  3. A kind of coop for raising hens and chicks.[1][5]
  4. (Alagoas, slang) A cheap watch (relógio).[22][7]

References

  1. ^ 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. covo
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cóvão
  4. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. covo
  5. ^ a b c d 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. covo
  6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 1, 140
  7. ^ a b c 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. covo
  8. ^ a b c 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, 615
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1796
  10. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. covo
  11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  12. ^ a b c d 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, 343
  13. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. covo
  14. ^ 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. covo
  15. ^ a b c Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. covo
  16. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. covo
  17. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. côvão
  18. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 283
  19. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2207
  20. ^ 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. covão
  21. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. covo
  22. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. covo
  23. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. covo

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Covo.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/covo. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·