jogo

Forms

jogo m (plural jogos, metaphonic)^[1] The stressed vowel is closed /o/ in the singular and open /ɔ/ in the plural jogos.^[1][2] Houaiss records the spelling joguos in the 15th century.^[2] An older spelling is jôgo.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin iocus (“joke, jest”), written Old Galician-Portuguese jogo in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Houaiss and Aurélio note that the Latin word for “joke, jest, mockery” replaced classical lūdus (“game, play”) in popular speech.^[2][4]

The same Latin word is Galician xogo, Spanish juego, Catalan joc, Occitan jòc, French jeu, Italian gioco and Romanian joc.^[5][1]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *jokos.^[1][6] De Vaan derives it from a Proto-Indo-European noun “word, utterance”, from Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak”), and compares Welsh iaith (“language”), Breton yezh (“language”) and Old High German jehan (“to say, express”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria tell of young men playing at ball, “which is a game that pleases young men more than any other such game” (que é jogo de que praz / muit' a omẽes mancebos mais que outro jog' atal).^[7] Alfonso X also uses it for a jest, in ca non é jogo de que omen chora “for it is no joke when a man weeps”.^[7] Houaiss and Cunha date the word to the 13th century.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval word covered both play and jest: the satirical cantigas have en jogo “in jest”, and fazer mal jogo “to do harm, torment”.^[7][8] Houaiss dates the sense “game with rules, contest” and the sense “enchantment, magic” to the 14th century.^[2] The Crónica Troiana speaks of “many games of many kinds”, and also uses jogos for the links of a coat of mail.^[7]

Bluteau (1712) defines the word as “a recreational exercise” and writes a long warning against gambling, which he calls the ruin of rich families.^[9] From “set of pieces for playing” came “set of things that go together” (a set of knives, of tyres, a tea service).^[2][3] Mechanics took it for the play or clearance between two parts and for the running gear of a carriage, and sailors for the rolling of a ship.^[10][4][11] The Brazilian jogo do bicho is an illegal lottery.^[1][4] In Rio Grande do Sul the card game is one of the most popular pastimes of the countryside, beside the jogo do osso and horse races.^[12]

Timeline

• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria call ball-playing a jogo.^[7]
• 14th century – Houaiss dates the senses “game with rules” and “magic”.^[2]
• c. 1430 – the Horto do Esposo (witness of 1390–1437) uses the word.^[13]
• 15th century – Houaiss records the spelling joguos.^[2]
• 1712 – Bluteau defines the word and condemns gambling.^[9]
• 1716 – Houaiss records Jogos Nemeos “Nemean Games”.^[2]
• 1755 – Folqman renders jogo with Latin ludus and jogo de sorte with alea.^[14]
• 1871 – Vieira quotes Camões's Lusíadas: Com jogos, danças e outras alegrias.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. play, recreation, amusement; children's play.^[2][4][16]
2. A game: a physical or mental activity with rules that decide who wins and who loses: O xadrez é um jogo antigo.^[2][4][1]
3. gambling; the vice of gambling: Perdeu a casa no jogo.^[2][4][1]
4. A match; each of the games into which a contest is divided.^[2][10]
5. The pieces or equipment used for a game; the hand of cards a player holds.^[2][10]
6. A set of things that go together: um jogo de copos.^[2][3][1]
7. The way a player plays: Tem um jogo muito defensivo.^[2][4]
8. The rules of a game; the rules that govern a situation.^[2][4]
9. A scheme or trick; the real intention behind something.^[4][17]
10. (mechanics) The movement of the parts of a machine; the play between two parts; the running gear of a vehicle.^[10][4]
11. The rolling of a ship.^[4]
12. A video game.^[1]

Word family

• joguete
• joguetar
• jogo de azar
• jogo de cama
• jogo do bicho

Related words

• jogar
• jogada
• jogador
• jogral
• jocoso
• Latin iocus
• Galician xogo
• Spanish juego

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include jogo de azar “game of chance”, jogo de cama “set of bed linen” and jogo do bicho, the Brazilian animal lottery.^[1][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. jogo
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. jogo
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. jogo
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4588
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 c d e 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. jogo
8. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. jogo
9. ^ 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. jogo
10. ^ 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. jogo
11. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. jogo
12. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. jogo
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. jogo
14. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. jogo
15. ^ 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, 1202
16. ^ 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. jogo
17. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. jogo