jágara

Forms

jágara f (plural jágaras)^[1] The word is also written jagra, the commoner form in the old texts, and jagre.^[2][3][1] Porto Editora also lists xágara and jacre, and Houaiss a form jacra of 1899.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Malayalam ചക്കര (cakkara, “jaggery”), learnt by the Portuguese in India.^[2][6][4][1] Wiktionary allows Tamil சக்கரை (cakkarai) as an alternative source.^[1] Houaiss and Dalgado connect the Malayalam word with Sanskrit शर्करा (śarkarā, “gravel; sugar”) through its forms in the modern Indo-Aryan languages.^[2][3] The same Sanskrit word lies, by way of Persian and Arabic, behind açúcar, which is therefore its doublet.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The short form jagra is recorded first: Dalgado's oldest quotation is from the letters of Afonso de Albuquerque, which he dates to 1510, and Houaiss dates jagra to 1513.^[3][2] The form jágara is in João de Barros's Décadas (1563), which speak of “coconuts and jágara, which is made from them like sugar”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The chroniclers of Portuguese India describe it as a palm sugar: Castanheda (1552) says that the great palms give wine, oil, vinegar and jagra, which tastes almost like sugar, and Damião de Góis (1566) calls it powdered palm sugar.^[3] Bluteau (1712–1728) repeats Barros, calling it an Indian word for a sugar made from coconuts.^[8] Dalgado describes it as the brown sugar of palm or cane, sold in lumps or blocks, the sugar of most of the people of India, and the word as current throughout Asian Portuguese.^[3] It is still used in Mozambique and East Africa.^[4]

From Indo-Portuguese the word passed into English as jaggery and into French as jagré.^[1]

Timeline

• 1510 – jagra in a letter of Afonso de Albuquerque, by Dalgado's date.^[3]
• 1513 – Houaiss's first date for jagra.^[2]
• 1552 – Castanheda describes jagra as tasting almost like sugar.^[3]
• 1563 – jágara in João de Barros's Décadas.^[3][5]
• 1609 – jagra in Friar João dos Santos's Ethiopia Oriental, from East Africa.^[3][9]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau enters jágara as an Indian word.^[8]
• 1899 – Houaiss records the form jacra.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (India, East Africa) jaggery: dark unrefined sugar made by boiling down the sap of palms or the juice of sugar cane, sold in lumps or blocks.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• açúcar
• English jaggery

Usage notes

Houaiss marks jágara as little used and defines it under jagra.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. jagra
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dalgado, Sebastião Rodolfo (1919–1921), Glossário luso-asiático, 2 vols., Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, p. 1, 475
4. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5449
5. ^ a b c d e Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. jágara
6. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. jágara
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. açúcar
8. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. jágara
9. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. jagra