dedal

Forms

dedal m (plural dedais)^[1] The older form is didal, the only one in the dictionaries of Cardoso, Barbosa and Pereira;^[2][3][4][5] dedal is dated from 1813.^[2][3][4][5] Priberam still lists didal as a popular form.^[6] Feijó (1734) reports that some preferred dedal as the form that matches dêdo, but he defends didal by the Latin word for a finger.^[7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin digitāle (“finger-stall, thimble”), the neuter of Latin digitālis (“of the finger”), from digitus (“finger”) and the suffix -ālis.^{[1][8][9][10]} Du Cange's glossary records the Latin noun as the translation of Ancient Greek δακτυλήθρα (daktulḗthra), a covering for the finger.^[11] Houaiss suggests that a shortened Vulgar Latin *ditāle may have existed, judging by the Italian, Spanish and French words.^[2]

The same Latin word is Galician dedal, Spanish dedal, Catalan didal, Italian ditale, French dé and Romanian degetar.^[12][13][1] By its form the word now looks like dedo with the suffix -al, and Vieira explained it so in 1871; it is a doublet of the learned digital.^[1][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gil Vicente has the old form in nam he este o meu didal; / este he o didal do menino “this is not my thimble; this is the boy's thimble”.^[15][14] Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary of 1569 renders didal with the Latin word.^[16]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) illustrates the Latin word with a passage of Varro on olives picked with finger-stalls, a sense the Latin plural already had.^[4][17] Bluteau describes the sewing instrument used to push the needle and records a children's game played with thimbles, dedaes or didaes.^[18] Morais (1813) specifies that it is worn on the middle finger by seamstresses and tailors.^[19] The figurative sense “a tiny amount”, as of wine, is in Vieira.^[14]

In Brazil the word names a tree with bell-shaped flowers, Lafoensia densiflora, and in Cape Verde the old Caldas Aulete records it as the name of a bellflower.^[20][2] Sailors' dedal de repuxo is a flat metal disc on a leather strap that protects the palm when sewing sails.^[2][21] In Trás-os-Montes it is a leather or metal guard for the fingers when reaping with a sickle.^[22]

Timeline

• 16th century – didal in Gil Vicente.^[3][15]
• 1562 – Houaiss's first date, from Cardoso's dictionary, with the form didal.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary lists didal.^[16]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists Didal.^[4]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau heads the word dedal and refers didâl to it.^[18][23]
• 1734 – Feijó discusses dedal and didal.^[7]
• 1813 – Houaiss's and Cunha's first date for the form dedal.^[2][3]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the figurative sense “small amount”.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thimble: a small cap of metal, ivory or plastic worn on the fingertip to push the needle in sewing.^{[2][24][9][1]}
2. (figurative) A tiny amount, especially of a liquid; a thimbleful.^{[2][24][25][1]}
3. (Brazil, botany) A tree, Lafoensia densiflora, with bell-shaped white, pink or greenish flowers; also its flower.^[2][24][1]
4. (in the plural) A popular game.^[21][26]

Related words

• dedada
• dedo
• dígito
• digital
• Latin digitus
• Spanish dedal

Usage notes

Aurélio records pequerrucho as the word for a thimble in Paraná.^[24]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. dedal
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. dedal
4. ^ a b c d Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. didal
5. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. didal
6. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. didal
7. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. dedal
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. dedal
9. ^ a b 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. dedal
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. digitalis
11. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre, p. s.v. digitale
12. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. digitale
13. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 150
14. ^ a b c d 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, 729
15. ^ a b 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. didal
16. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. didal
17. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. digitalis
18. ^ 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. dedal
19. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 518
20. ^ 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. dedal
21. ^ 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. dedal
22. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. dedal
23. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. didal
24. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. dedal
25. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. dedal
26. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. dedal