favo

Forms

favo m (plural favos)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin favus (“honeycomb”), spelt Old Galician-Portuguese fauoo and Old Galician-Portuguese favoo in the 14th century.^[2][3][4][1]

The same Latin word is Galician favo, Italian favo and Old Spanish havo; in Spain favo survives in the Leonese dialects.^[5][6]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[7][8] Wiktionary connects it with Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to swell, grow, dwell”), and de Vaan mentions the older idea of a root meaning “to dwell”, the honeycomb being the bees' dwelling, but finds the form hard to explain.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the word to the 14th century, in the forms fauoo and favoo.^[2][3] Bluteau quotes Camões's Lusíadas (canto 5, stanza 27) for De mel os doces Favos na montanha “the sweet combs of honey on the mountain”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau explains the cell as a six-sided vessel of wax, “perhaps because the bee that makes it has six feet”.^[9] Morais (1789) adds the plural favos for small unnatural holes on children's heads, and o favo da seda for the quality of a silk thread.^[10] The medical sense, the fungal disease favus, is also French favus, a medical borrowing of 1811 from the Latin word: doctors compared the yellowish crusts to a honeycomb.^[2][11]

The sense “something sweet and pleasant” grew from the honey, and the shape of the cells gave the honeycomb stitch of embroidery and crochet.^[2][12] In Mozambique favo is an egg carton.^[13] In Rio Grande do Sul it also names a pleated ornament on the side of the bombachas and, in the plural, the tonsils.^[14]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, as fauoo.^[2][3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau quotes the Lusíadas for the word.^[9]
• 1755 – Folqman gives favo de mel “honeycomb”.^[15]
• 1789 – Morais records the plural favos for holes on children's heads.^[10]
• 1873 – first record of faviforme.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cell, or a set of cells, of wax in which bees store honey; a honeycomb.^[2][16][1]
2. (figurative) Anything like a cell of a honeycomb.^[2][16]
3. (figurative) A sweet, pleasant thing or dish.^[2][16]
4. (dermatology) favus, a fungal infection of the scalp and nails.^[2][16]
5. A honeycomb stitch in embroidery or crochet.^[12][17]
6. (Mozambique) An egg carton.^[13]

Related words

• faviforme
• Latin favus
• Galician favo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. favo
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. favo
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. favo
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3228
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 874
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. favus
9. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. favo
10. ^ a b 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, 601
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. favus
12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. favo
13. ^ 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. favo
14. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. favo
15. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. favo
16. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. favo
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4212