furacão

Forms

furacão m (plural furacões)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish huracán, a word of the Taíno of the Antilles, from Taíno hurakán.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Wiktionary writes the Taíno form as *hurakā.^[1] The Spanish word is first recorded as furacan in Peter Martyr of Anghiera (1510–1515) and with ⟨h⟩ in Oviedo (1526); Oviedo says it was a word of the Indians of Haiti.^[6] The Portuguese ⟨f⟩ renders the aspirated ⟨h⟩ of the early Spanish pronunciation, which also shows in the English furicanos of Hakluyt.^[6] Cunha and Houaiss see the influence of furar (“to pierce”), and Houaiss also of fúria, in the Portuguese form.^[3][2]

The same word reached French ouragan, Italian uragano and English hurricane.^[2][7] A connection with Hurakan, the storm god of the Quiché Maya, has been proposed;^[7][6] Friederici considers it unproven, and Corominas notes that scholars of the Americas disagree on the further origin.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha dates the word to the 16th century and Houaiss to 1678, both in the sense of a violent wind.^[3][2] Friederici lists the Portuguese forms furacão and plural furacões among the many European forms of the word.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1813) describes it as a sudden, violent wind that usually moves in whirls and can sink ships and pull down houses, and Vieira repeats the description.^[8][9] The figurative sense “anything that destroys with speed and violence” is in the dictionaries from the 19th century;^[10][11] Aulete quotes Garrett for it.^[10][11] Figueiredo also records an argot sense, a man's death.^[11] In Brazilian dialect surveys it is any strong wind or a whirlwind that lifts dust and leaves.^[12]

Timeline

• 1510–1515 – furacan in Peter Martyr, the first record of the Spanish word.^[6]
• 1526 – Oviedo writes huracan and calls it a word of Haiti.^[6]
• 16th century – first record of furacão, according to Cunha.^[3]
• 1678 – first record according to Houaiss.^[2]
• 1813 – Morais enters furacão.^[8]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the figurative sense.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (meteorology) A hurricane: a tropical cyclone (ciclone) with winds of very great speed, especially in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic.^[2][5][1]
2. A sudden, violent wind; a typhoon (tufão), whirlwind.^[13][14][15]
3. (figurative) Anything that destroys with speed and violence: A crise foi um furacão para a pequena empresa.^[2][5][15]
4. (figurative) A great tumult; a violent outburst of feeling: um furacão de raiva.^[2][5][15]

Related words

• tufão
• ciclone
• Spanish huracán
• English hurricane

Usage notes

Entrar como um furacão means to burst in impetuously, and como um furacão “very fast”.^[13][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. furacão
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. furacão
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. furacão
5. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. furacão
6. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 429
7. ^ a b c d Friederici, Georg (1947), Amerikanistisches Wörterbuch, Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter, p. 304
8. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 69
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c 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. furacão
11. ^ a b c d Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 642
12. ^ 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. furacão
13. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. furacão
14. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4533
15. ^ 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. furacão