fragata

Forms

fragata f (plural fragatas)^[1] A letter of 1641 still writes fregata, as in Italian.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian fregata, a name for a fast ship that the DELI records from 1353 in Boccaccio and that later meant a warship.^[3][4][1] Nascentes derives the Portuguese form from a dialectal Italian fragata, and the DHLF explains that the word spread from southern Italy, where Neapolitan fragata and Sicilian fragata have the form with ⟨a⟩, to all the ports of the Mediterranean, whence the Catalan, Spanish and Portuguese fragata.^[5][6] French frégate, borrowed in 1525, comes from the same source, and Spanish has its word from 1535.^[6][7]

The origin of the Italian word is unknown.^[4][6] One proposal connects it with a Greek name for an undecked ship, through a calque in medieval Latin, but the DELI and the DHLF find it phonetically unconvincing.^[4][6] Corominas suggests a shortening of a past participle of Latin naufragō (“to be shipwrecked”), since the frigate was at first a light boat used to rescue the crew of a larger ship, but the DHLF finds the sense ill-suited.^[7][6]

The bird name comes from the same French word, recorded in this sense in 1637, a metaphor from the ship.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is from 1552.^[3] Cunha dates the word to the 16th century, with the sense “a kind of warship”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Pereira's dictionary of 1697 glosses it with Latin liburna, the name of a light Roman warship.^[9] Morais (1789) describes a warship, usually with two decks, smaller and faster than the naus, and also a small sailing and rowing boat of the Tagus.^[10] Vieira adds that it carried 30 to 60 guns.^[11] The modern frigate is a general-purpose or anti-submarine warship, larger than a corvette and smaller than a cruiser.^[3]

The word also became the name of the frigatebird (tesourão).^[3] In popular speech it was used of a smart, active man and of a tall, stout, attractive woman.^[12][13][14] In Bahia it names a folk festivity of the marujada.^[15]

Timeline

• 1552 – first record.^[3]
• 1641 – a private letter writes fregata.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it as Latin liburna.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais describes the warship and the Tagus boat.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A sailing warship with three masts and one or two gun decks.^[3][15]
2. A frigate: a general-purpose or anti-submarine warship, larger than a corveta and smaller than a cruzador.^[3][1]
3. (Portugal) A sturdy barge with a single mast, used for carrying cargo on the Tejo.^[3][16]
4. A frigatebird (Fregata magnificens); the same as tesourão.^[3][17]
5. (informal) A tall, stout and attractive woman.^[14][15]

Related words

• Italian fregata
• French frégate
• Spanish fragata

Usage notes

Houaiss and Aurélio also record a masculine fragata, short for capitão-de-fragata, the naval rank of commander.^[3][18] The DLP and Michaelis have a masculine fragata in the popular sense “a dapper, brisk man”.^[13][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. fragata
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fragata
4. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli, p. s.v. fregata
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. fragata
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. frégate
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. fragata
8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. fragata
9. ^ 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. fragata
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, 632
11. ^ 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, 759
12. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. fragata
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. fragata
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. fragata
15. ^ a b c d 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. fragata
16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4448
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. fragata
18. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. fragata