jardim

Forms

jardim m (plural jardins)^[1] The medieval spelling was jardin.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French jardin (“garden; enclosure”), written Old Galician-Portuguese jardin in the oldest texts.^[3][4][1][5] The French word, recorded from the 12th century, is a diminutive of jart (“garden”), from Frankish *gard (“enclosure”).^[3][4][1] Wiktionary takes the Frankish word back to Proto-Germanic *gardô (“enclosure, garden, house”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʰordʰos (“hedge, enclosure”).^[1] Orel lists Old High German garto (“garden”) and Old Saxon gardo among the reflexes of the Germanic word.^[6]

Houaiss also cites the Medieval Latin gardinium of the 10th century and a Gallo-Romance phrase “enclosed garden”, joining Latin hortus (“garden”) and a Germanic word; the DHLF prefers the same explanation for the French word.^[3][7] Houaiss compares Italian giardino, recorded in the 13th century, and Spanish jardín.^[3][8] Corominas takes the Spanish word from French as well.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo antedated Machado's first record of 1534 to the Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century, where the Virgin is praised so that she may bring the singers no jardin / de seu fillo “into the garden of her son”.^[2] Houaiss and Cunha also date the word to the 13th century.^[3][4] Houaiss notes that its derivatives are much later.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The garden first meant enclosed ground beside a house, for flowers, fruit trees or vegetables.^[3][9] Feijó (1734) defines it as a place of flowers and myrtles.^[3][9] Houaiss dates the sense “landscaped ground with ornamental plants” to 1842, jardim botânico to 1852 and jardim zoológico to 1885.^[3] Figuratively it is a fertile, well-tilled country.^[3][10]

In Brazil jardim is also short for jardim de infância “kindergarten”.^[10][1] The jardim de popa was a gallery at the stern of the old men-of-war.^[3][10] The word passed into Kadiwéu as jaadi.^[1]

Timeline

• 1200s – no jardin / de seu fillo in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2][3]
• 1534 – Machado's first dated record, antedated by Lorenzo.^[2]
• 1734 – Feijó defines the garden as a place of flowers and myrtles.^[9]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses jardim with Latin hortus.^[11]
• 1842 – the sense “landscaped garden”.^[3]
• 1852 – jardim botânico.^[3]
• 1873 – ajardinar.^[4]
• 1885 – jardim zoológico.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. garden: a piece of ground, usually next to a house and fenced, where flowers, vegetables or trees are grown, also used for leisure.^[3][10][1]
2. Ground laid out with ornamental plants as part of a landscape or urban design; a public garden: o jardim da praça.^[3][12]
3. (figurative) A fertile region with rich, varied vegetation.^[3][10]
4. (Brazil) Short for jardim de infância, a kindergarten.^[10][1]
5. (nautical, historical) The stern gallery of old men-of-war, reached from the captain's cabin (jardim de popa).^[3][10]

Word family

• ajardinar
• jardinagem
• jardineiro
• jardinar
• jardim de infância

Related words

• French jardin
• Spanish jardín
• Italian giardino

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include jardim botânico, jardim zoológico, jardim de inverno (a glazed room with plants) and jardim das delícias “the Garden of Eden”.^[3][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. jardin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. jardim
4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. jardim
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. jardim
6. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. jardin
8. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 496
9. ^ a b c 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. jardim
10. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. jardim
11. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. jardim
12. ^ 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. jardim
13. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1975), Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p. 822