escova

Forms

escova f (plural escovas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin scōpa (“broom”).^[2][3][4][1] In classical Latin the word was mostly used in the plural, for twigs or sprigs and a broom made of them.^[2][3] Houaiss and Cunha take the singular as Late Latin.^[2][3] The Latin /p/ between vowels went through /b/ to /v/, the usual development.^[4] Vieira (1871) derived the word instead from the diminutive scōpula.^[5]

The same Latin word is Galician escoba, Spanish escoba, Occitan escoba, Italian scopa and Old French escouve, all meaning “broom”.^[6][7][1] Wiktionary takes it from *skōpā, from *skeh₂p- (“to prop”), with Ancient Greek σκήπτω (skḗptō, “to prop up”) as a cognate.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to 1522.^[2] The earliest dictionaries render it with Latin words for a small brush and a broom (Pereira 1697), and Folqman (1755) defines it as a brush for cleaning clothes.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Portuguese took the Latin word for a broom of twigs as the name of the brush, while Spanish and the other Romance languages kept the sense “broom”.^[6][2][1] Morais (1813) describes a piece of wood or metal set with tufts of bristles, used to dust clothes and to polish gold and silver, and Vieira adds brushes for the teeth and the nails.^[10][5]

In Trás-os-Montes the word names the broom plant, as Spanish escoba does.^[6][11][12] Electrical engineering uses it for the contact of a motor or generator, and Brazilian slang for a tiresome person.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1522 – first record.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira lists escova.^[8]
• 1755 – Folqman: a brush for cleaning clothes.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais describes the brush and its uses.^[10][3] Cunha dates escovar, escovado and escovadeira to the same year.^[10][3]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the Trás-os-Montes sense “broom (plant)”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A brush, a tool of bristles or threads set in a base, for cleaning, combing or smoothing: escova de dentes, escova de cabelo.^[2][13][1]
2. (electrical engineering) The brush that makes the sliding contact between the rotor and the circuit of a motor or generator.^[2][14]
3. (Brazil, informal) A tiresome, boring person.^[2][13]
4. (regional, Trás-os-Montes) The broom plant, giesta.^[11][15][12]

Word family

• escovadeira
• escovado
• escovar

Related words

• Latin scōpa
• Spanish escoba

Usage notes

Fazer escova (Brazil) is to dry the hair with a brush and a blow-dryer so that it is smooth.^[2][15] meter a escova (Portugal) is to tell lies.^[2][15] Spanish escoba means “broom”, not “brush”, a false friend.^[1]

A separate noun escova with open /ó/, “the act of brushing”, is a back-formation from escovar.^[16][15][13]

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. escova
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. escova
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 186
5. ^ 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. 3, 271
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7734
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 697
8. ^ 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. escova
9. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. escova
10. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 743
11. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 540
12. ^ a b 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. escova
13. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. escova
14. ^ 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. escova
15. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. escova
16. ^ 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. escova