fumo

Forms

fumo m (plural fumos)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”), written Old Galician-Portuguese fumo in the oldest texts.^[2][1][3]

The same Latin word is Spanish humo, with the Spanish change of ⟨f-⟩ to ⟨h-⟩ (the old form was Old Spanish fumo), Catalan fum, Italian fumo and Romanian fum.^[4][5] A by-form Galician fume stands beside fumo, a form García de Diego explains by the influence of lume (“fire”).^[6][7]

The Latin word goes back to *fūmos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós (“smoke”).^[1][8] Its cognates include Sanskrit धूम (dhūmá, “smoke”), Ancient Greek θυμός (thumós, “spirit”) and Old Church Slavonic дꙑмъ (dymŭ, “smoke”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century already use the word in its literal sense and as an image of what vanishes: enemies como fumo se desfezeron “melted away like smoke”, and candles burned con chama crara sen fumo “with a clear flame without smoke”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Besides smoke itself, the word came to mean any vapour rising from a hot or damp body, and figuratively vanity and something fleeting.^[2] Morais (1813) records fumos “vanity, conceit”.^[2][10] A band of black crape worn in mourning was called fumo: Houaiss notes that Bluteau (1712–1728) already records this sense.^[2][11]

In Brazil fumo became the usual word for tobacco, the plant and the leaf prepared for smoking.^[12][2] Houaiss first finds this Brazilianism in Vieira's dictionary (1871–1874), and Nascentes explains it by the smoke the leaf gives when it is lit.^[2][3][12] From it came fumo de rolo, tobacco twisted into a rope, and the habit of smoking itself, and Brazilian slang uses the word for marijuana.^[2][13] In Portugal fumo remains the usual word for smoke, where Brazil prefers fumaça.^[2][14]

The word passed into Kabuverdianu and Guinea-Bissau Creole as fumu and fumu.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century – fumo “smoke” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[9][2]
• 1430 – the Horto do Esposo is the first text in the CTA corpus with the word.^[15]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary renders it Latin fumus.^[16]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the sense “mourning band”.^[2]
• 1813 – Morais records fumos “vanity”.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira's dictionary is the first to record the Brazilian sense “tobacco”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly Portugal) smoke, the gas and particles given off by a burning body.^[2][17][1]
2. A vapour rising from a damp body warmer than the air, or the fine spray of falling water.^[2][18][1]
3. (chiefly Brazil) tobacco, the plant, and its leaves prepared for smoking, chewing or snuff: Comprou meio quilo de fumo de rolo.^[2][13][1]
4. The habit of smoking (fumar): Largou o fumo há dez anos.^[2][13]
5. A band of black crape worn as a sign of mourning.^[2][18]
6. (figurative) Something fleeting or vain; in the plural, vanity, conceit.^[2][19]
7. (Brazil, slang) marijuana.^[2][13]

Word family

• fumal

Related words

• fumar
• fumaça
• Latin fūmus
• Galician fume
• Spanish humo

Usage notes

Aurélio also records a separate noun fumo of Mozambique, “village chief”, from Chisena and Chuabo.^[14] The spelling fumo for fomos “we were, we went” in rural Brazilian speech is not this word.^[1]

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 m n o p q r Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fumo
3. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. fumo
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 427
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
7. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. fumo
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. fumo
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 66
11. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. fumo
12. ^ a b Beaurepaire-Rohan, Henrique de (1889), Diccionario de vocabulos brazileiros, Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, p. s.v. fumo
13. ^ a b c d Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. fumo
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. fumo
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. fumo
16. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. fumo
17. ^ 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. fumo
18. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. fumo
19. ^ 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. fumo