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lábio

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word lábio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1589 Arrais More words from the 16th century
Borrowed from
Latin labium
Ultimate origin
Latin labium
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin labium
Portuguese lábio
Spanish labio

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈla.bju/[1]
  • Portugal: /ˈla.bju/, [ˈla.βju][1]
  • Portugal, Southern: /ˈla.bju/[1]

Forms

lábio m (plural lábios)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin labium (“lip”), a learned word; the Latin noun was also used, mostly, in the plural.[2][3][4][1] Houaiss dates it to 1589, in Arrais.[2] Aurélio and the Porto dictionary give beiço as its synonym.[5][6]

The same Latin word is Spanish labio, Catalan llavi and Italian labbio.[7][8][1]

The Latin word stands beside labrum (“lip, brim”), its doublet.[3][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *labjo- and compares the Germanic words for the lip, lippa, from *lepjan-, and lefs; he notes that a root with *b is rare in Proto-Indo-European, and that the Greek forms sometimes compared are less certain.[3] Wiktionary gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”), with the same doubt.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, of 1589 in Arrais, is for the anatomical sense, each of the two fleshy parts that form the edge of the mouth.[2]

Semantic evolution

Vieira's dictionary of 1871 has only the lip of the mouth, the upper and the lower.[9] The first edition of Aurélio (1975) adds anything shaped like a lip, os lábios de uma ferida “the lips of a wound”, and the lip of a two-lipped corolla in botany.[10] Houaiss and the DLP list further anatomical and zoological senses: the labia of the vulva, the lower mouthpart of insects, the rim of a shell.[2][11]

In the plural the word stands for the mouth as the organ of speech, and figuratively for what one says.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 1589 – first record, in Arrais.[2]
  • 1871 – Vieira defines only the lip of the mouth.[9]
  • 1975 – Aurélio adds the lips of a wound and the botanical sense.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (anatomy) Each of the two fleshy, movable folds that form the edge of the mouth; a lip.[2][1]
  2. (anatomy) Each of the folds of skin of the vulva;[2][1] grandes lábios and pequenos lábios are the outer and inner labia.[2][1]
  3. (zoology) The lower mouthpart of insects; a similar part in spiders and nematodes; the edge of the opening of a gastropod shell.[2][12]
  4. (botany) Each of the two main lobes of a two-lipped corolla.[2][1]
  5. (medicine) Each edge of a wound.[2][11]
  6. Anything shaped like a lip.[2]
  7. (in the plural) The mouth as the organ of speech;[2][6] (figurative) what one says, one's words.[2][6]

Word family

  • labial
  • labiodental
  • lábio leporino
  • lábia
  • labiada
  • labiado
  • labioso
  • labro
  • Latin labium
  • Spanish labio

Usage notes

Lábio leporino is the medical name for a cleft lip, literally a “hare lip”.[2][11] Ter nos lábios means to be on the point of saying something.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lábio
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lábio
  5. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lábio
  6. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5527
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4808
  8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. labium
  9. ^ 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, 1243
  10. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1975), Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p. 835
  11. ^ a b c 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. lábio
  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. lábio

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Lábio.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/l%C3%A1bio. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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