formigueiro

Forms

formigueiro m (plural formigueiros)^[1] A letter of 1821 spells it furmigueiro.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese formiga (“ant”) + -eiro.^[3][4][5][1] Wiktionary notes that it may correspond to a Vulgar Latin *formīcārium.^[1] The same derivative is found across Romance: Spanish hormiguero, Catalan formiguer, Italian formicaio and Romanian furnicar.^[6][1]

The base noun comes from Latin formīca (“ant”).^[6][7] De Vaan reconstructs an earlier *mormīkā-, and Wiktionary explains the initial /f/ as a dissimilation of /m…m/ and links the word with Proto-Indo-European *morwi- (“ant”), a term whose forms vary widely across the Indo-European languages.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1529, in the sense “home of ants”.^[3] Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 renders it with Latin formicarium.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) already has the figurative uses: a swarm of worms in a neglected wound, and a crowd of people, parecia hum formigueiro “it looked like an anthill”.^[9] Morais (1813) records an adjective, ladrão formigueiro “a thief who steals small things”, which the DLP marks as popular and dated.^[10][4] Vieira (1871–1874) adds the sense of an ardent restlessness, and Figueiredo (1899) a prickling of the skin as if ants were crawling over it and a disease of horses' hooves.^[11][12]

In the Azores formigueiro is the south-east wind, which blows from the Formigas rocks north of the island of Santa Maria.^[3][13][4] In Brazil the word also names a tree of Mato Grosso, Triplaris, otherwise called formigueira, and in the north-east a pins-and-needles feeling in the legs.^[5][14]

Timeline

• 1529 – first record.^[3]
• 1569 – Cardoso lists it, rendered formicarium.^[8]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the figurative “crowd of people”.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais records ladrão formigueiro, a petty thief.^[10]
• 1821 – a private letter spells it furmigueiro.^[2]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from formiga with the suffix -eiro.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. An anthill or ant nest, in the ground or in an old stump.^[3][1]
2. The ants living in one nest; a colony; a great number of ants.^[3][15]
3. (figurative) A great crowd of people, or a place full of people in movement: Na hora de ponta a estação é um formigueiro.^[3][4]
4. An itching or prickling of the skin, as if ants were crawling over it.^[3][16]
5. (figurative) restlessness, impatience.^[3][5]
6. (Azores) The south-east wind.^[3][4]
7. (veterinary) A disease of horses' hooves.^[3][17]

Adjective

1. (dated, popular) Of a thief: stealing things of little value, in ladrão formigueiro.^[10][4][1]

Word family

• formigueira

Related words

• fórmico
• formiga
• formiguejar

Usage notes

In informal Brazilian Portuguese sentar num formigueiro “to sit on an anthill” is said of someone restless and agitated.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. formigueiro
3. ^ 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. formigueiro
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. formigueiro
5. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. formigueiro
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3445
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. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. formigueiro
9. ^ 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. formigueiro
10. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 49
11. ^ 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, 743
12. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 626
13. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. formigueiro
14. ^ Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. formigueiro
15. ^ 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. formigueiro
16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4411
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 1