fuligem

Forms

fuligem f (plural fuligens)^[1] A popular variant is felugem;^[2][3] Vieira also records ferrugem for soot as a common but improper term.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fūlīgō (“soot”).^[4][5][6][1] Nascentes and Aurélio start from a popular Latin form with a double consonant, Vulgar Latin *fullīgō, which also lies behind the Spanish hollín.^[7][2][8] Other outcomes of the Latin word are Galician felugem, Italian fuliggine and Romanian funingine.^[9][10][1]

De Vaan reconstructs *fūli- (“smoke”) and Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂li- (“smoke, dust”), an i-stem whose cognates include dūlis, used of the smoke in bee-keeping.^[11] Wiktionary derives it from the root *dʰewh₂- (“to blow; smoke”), the source also of fūmus (“smoke”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1694;^[12] Cunha's first record is Morais's dictionary of 1813.^[4][5] Morais's first edition (1789) already defines it as the black deposit the smoke leaves in chimneys and pots, “commonly called ferrugem”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) and Vieira (1871–1874) also note a medical use of the plural for vapours given off by the body.^[12][3] Modern dictionaries add a figurative “trace, mark” and the dark coating a fungus leaves on fruit and leaves.^[4][6][13] In rural Brazil the word is also used for the hot ash left inside a wood-burning stove.^[14]

Timeline

• 1694 – first record.^[4]
• 1789 – Morais defines it and gives the popular name ferrugem.^[12]
• 1858 – first record of fuliginosidade.^[5]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from Latin fuligo and records felugem.^[3]
• 1881 – first record of esfulinhar.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. soot, the black, greasy powder left by burning fuel on chimneys, walls and ceilings.^[4][2][1]
2. (figurative) A trace or mark left by something.^[4][6]
3. (agriculture) A dark coating on cereals, citrus fruit and leaves, caused by a fungus.^[4][13]

Word family

• esfulinhar

Related words

• fuliginoso
• Latin fūlīgō
• Spanish hollín

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. fuligem
3. ^ 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. 3, 790
4. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fuligem
5. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. fuligem
6. ^ a b c 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. fuligem
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. fuligem
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 377
9. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. felugem
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3558
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d 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, 641
13. ^ 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. fuligem
14. ^ 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. fuligem