funil

Forms

funil m (plural funis, diminutive funilzinho)^[1] Cunha records the 16th-century form fonil, and Feijó (1734) still gives fonil beside funil.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Occitan fonilh (“funnel”) (also enfonilh), from Latin fundibulum.^[4][2][1][5] Meyer-Lübke explains the ⟨n⟩ for Latin ⟨nd⟩ as a Gascon development, so that the word would have started from Bordeaux, which fits its spread in the dialects of southern France, and Nascentes adds that Bordeaux was and is a great exporter of wine.^[5][6] Aurélio gives the chain as Latin infundibulum, a Vulgar Latin *fundiculum and the Bordeaux form of the Occitan word.^[7] From the same Occitan word come Spanish fonil, Basque unila, Breton founil and English funnel.^[5] Vieira, in 1873, took it from English instead.^[8]

The Latin noun is formed from fundō (“to pour out”) with the instrument suffix -bulum.^[1][4] The learned fundíbulo is a doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is about 1555, in the play Filodemo.^[4] Cunha dates both funil and fonil to the 16th century.^[2] Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 glosses funil with Latin infundibulum.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the utensil for pouring liquids into narrow-mouthed vessels, and hence anything shaped like a funnel, such as the siphon of a squid or a ship's funnel.^[4][10] Vieira records the idiom dar alguma cousa medida sobre o funil “to give more than is due”.^[8] In Brazil it is also a gorge in a mountain range, and in Minas Gerais, Goiás and Bahia a finishing touch.^[4][11][12] Brazilian dialect surveys record it for a whirlpool of water or a whirlwind.^[13][11]

The word passed into Tetum as funíl.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1555 – first record, in Filodemo.^[4]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it as Latin infundibulum.^[9]
• 1734 – Feijó gives the spellings Funil and Fonil.^[3]
• 1813 – enfunilar first recorded.^[2]
• 1836 – afunilar and funileiro recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A funnel: a cone-shaped utensil ending in a tube, used to pour liquids or powders into a narrow opening.^[4][1]
2. Anything shaped like a funnel.^[4][14]
3. Something that lets only a little through, or slowly; a bottleneck.^[14][15]
4. (Brazil) A narrow gorge in a mountain range.^[11][4]
5. (Brazil, regional) A whirlpool in a river; a whirlwind.^[13][11]
6. (Brazil: Bahia, Goiás) A finishing touch: Falta dar um funil nesta parede.^[12]

Word family

• afunilar
• afunilado
• enfunilar
• funileiro
• funilaria

Related words

• fundíbulo
• infundíbulo
• Occitan fonilh
• Latin fundibulum
• Galician funil

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. funil
3. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. funil
4. ^ 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. funil
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3583
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. funil
7. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. funil
8. ^ 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, 804
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. funil
10. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. funil
11. ^ 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. funil
12. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. funil
13. ^ a b 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. funil
14. ^ 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. funil
15. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4532