glóbulo

Forms

glóbulo m (plural glóbulos)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin globulus (“little ball; pill”), learned.^[2][3][1][4] The Latin word is a diminutive of globus (“ball, round mass”) with -ulus.^[5][1] De Vaan thinks the Latin noun probably a loanword, like glēba (“clod”);^[6][1] Wiktionary mentions a possible link with Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to form into a ball”), perhaps through a substrate.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is a text of 1759.^[2] Cunha dates the word to 1858, and DELPo has globulos in an 1846 account of Milne-Edwards's work.^[3][7] The sense was a very small sphere.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word became a term of physiology: Vieira (1871–1874) lists glóbulos brancos and glóbulos sanguíneos, the red corpuscles of the blood seen under the microscope.^[8] The old Caldas Aulete adds the pharmacy sense, a small pill, and the homoeopath's tiny dose in a globule.^[9] Modern dictionaries name the blood cells glóbulo branco and glóbulo vermelho, and astronomy uses glóbulo de Bok for a small dense interstellar cloud.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1759 – first record.^[2]
• 1846 – globulos in a scientific text.^[7]
• 1858 – Cunha's date.^[3]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira lists glóbulos brancos and glóbulos sanguíneos.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small globe (globo) or sphere; a globule.^[2][10][11]
2. (biology) A small round body suspended in a body fluid such as blood, lymph or milk; a blood cell.^[2][10][11]
3. (pharmacy) A small pill.^[10][11]
4. glóbulo branco: a white blood cell, leucócito;^[1] glóbulo vermelho: a red blood cell, eritrócito.^[2][10]
5. glóbulo polar: a small cell formed during the maturation of the ovum, which then degenerates.^[2][10]
6. (astronomy) glóbulo de Bok: a compact, roughly spherical interstellar cloud.^[2]

Word family

• globular
• globuloso

Related words

• globo
• Latin globulus

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 f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. glóbulo
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. globo
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. glóbulo
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. globulus
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. glóbulo
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, 872
9. ^ 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. glóbulo
10. ^ a b c d e f 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. glóbulo
11. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. glóbulo