galinheiro

Forms

galinheiro m (plural galinheiros)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin gallīnārium (“henhouse”), a noun formed from gallīna (“hen”) with the suffix -ārium (“place for”).^[2][1][3] Wiktionary gives the old form Old Galician-Portuguese galĩeiro.^[1] The Latin noun is recorded by Columella and Pliny, though the REW lists it as a reconstruction.^[4][5]

The same Latin word is Galician galiñeiro, Spanish gallinero, Catalan galliner and Italian gallinaio.^[5][1] The Spanish word is traced to the Latin adjective and noun gallīnārius (“of poultry; poultry keeper”), which also lies behind the Portuguese sense “poultry dealer”: Houaiss puts that sense under the Latin adjective and the henhouse under the neuter noun.^[6][2][7] Within Portuguese the word reads as galinha with the suffix -eiro, and the DLP and Aurélio explain it so.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the word to the 15th century, from Cunha's slips of medieval texts, in the sense of a pen where hens are kept.^[2][10] Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary of 1569 renders Galinheiro by Latin gallinarius, the poultry keeper.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Both senses of the Latin pair live on: the enclosure or hut where the hens sleep, and the person who keeps or sells them.^[2][12][8] The original Caldas Aulete quotes Machado de Assis's Quincas Borba (edition of 1891) for the farmyard sense, and adds the theatre sense: the cheap upper gallery above the boxes, where spectators crowd without numbered seats.^[12][13]

Popular and slang uses followed: the nape of the neck, a prison, and in Brazil the police van.^[8][14][3] In Brazilian football slang it is a small ground with wooden stands and a pitch without grass.^[2] Galician galiñeiro has the same theatre sense, the cheapest seats at the top of a cinema or theatre.^[15]

Timeline

• 1400s – first records, as a henhouse.^[2][10]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses Galinheiro with Latin gallinarius.^[11]
• 1891 – an edition of Machado de Assis's Quincas Borba quoted by the original Caldas Aulete for the farmyard sense.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A henhouse or chicken run, often fenced with wire netting, where hens and other poultry are kept; a capoeira.^[2][3][13]
2. A person who raises or sells hens; a poulterer.^[2][9][8]
3. (theatre, informal) The top gallery above the last row of boxes, with cheap unnumbered places; the torrinha.^[2][8][13]
4. (Brazil, football, informal) A small stadium with wooden stands and a pitch without grass.^[2]
5. (popular) The nape of the neck.^[8][14]
6. (slang) A prison;^[8][14][3] (Brazil) a police van.^[8][14][3]

Related words

• galicínio
• galináceo
• galinha
• galinicultura
• galo
• Latin gallīna
• Galician galiñeiro
• Spanish gallinero

Usage notes

The old phrase ir ao galinheiro meant to give someone a beating, and also to rob them.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. galinheiro
3. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. galinheiro
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3662a
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. gallinero
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. galinheiro
9. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. galinheiro
10. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. galinha
11. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. galinheiro
12. ^ 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. galinheiro
13. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4581
14. ^ 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. galinheiro
15. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. galiñeiro