lagarto

Forms

lagarto m (plural lagartos)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *lacartus, a by-form of Latin lacertus (“lizard; upper arm, muscle”).^[2][3][4][1] The oldest texts have Old Galician-Portuguese lagarto.^[5] Houaiss notes that the word kept both Latin senses, the reptile and the muscle of the arm.^[2] Nascentes explains that only the assimilated form with ⟨a⟩ accounts for the /ɡ/: before ⟨e⟩ the Latin /k/ would have become /z/.^[6] Corominas takes this form for an old dialectal variant of the Latin word.^[7][8]

The same form is Spanish lagarto, Galician lagarto and Asturian llagartu, while French lézard and Italian lucertola continue the Latin forms with ⟨e⟩.^[9][1][10] Spanish has the word as a name in documents of 1095 and 1171 and as a common noun from the 13th century.^[7]

The origin of the Latin word is obscure: de Vaan finds none of the proposed connections, with Greek words for the foot and kicking and with leggr (“leg”), convincing.^[11] Wiktionary leaves open whether the lizard was named from the muscle or the muscle from the lizard.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to the 15th century, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese;^[2][3] Cunha's own dictionary has the 16th century.^[2][3] The diminutive lagartixa is already in a document of 1359 cited by the Elucidário.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The muscle sense is old: Morais (1789) has lagarto do braço for the flesh between the elbow and the shoulder and lagarto da perna for the calf, and Bluteau quotes a surgeon who made lagarto the same as lacerto “muscle”.^[13][14] Nascentes compares the Brazilian name of a cut of beef to the twitching of the muscle under the skin, like a lizard running past.^[15]

The writers of the discoveries called the crocodiles of Africa and southern Asia lagartos or lagartos de água;^[16] Dalgado quotes Duarte Barbosa in 1516 on the great lagartos of Cannanore that eat men.^[16] Bluteau and Morais still give “crocodile” as a sense, and Houaiss keeps the Nile crocodile for Guinea-Bissau.^[14][13][2] In Brazil the word names the large teiid lizards, the teiú.^[4][2] In Portugal it is also a fish of the Azores and, after the club's green colour, a derogatory name for supporters of Sporting.^[17]

The word passed into Guinea-Bissau Creole as lagártu.^[1]

Timeline

• 1359 – the diminutive lagartixa in a document.^[12]
• 15th century – first record of lagarto.^[2]
• 1516 – Duarte Barbosa calls the crocodiles of Cannanore lagartos.^[16]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it with Latin lacertus.^[18]
• 1611 – Barbosa gives lagarto, ou lagarta.^[19]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists the reptile, the crocodile and the muscle of the arm.^[14]
• 1789 – Morais records lagarto do braço and lagarto da perna.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) A lizard, especially the lacertids of Portugal; in Brazil, the large teiid lizards, the teiú.^{[2][17][4][1]}
2. The tanned skin of these reptiles, used for bags, belts and the like.^[2][17]
3. (Guinea-Bissau) The Nile crocodile.^[2][1]
4. (ichthyology) A name of several fishes, such as a fish of the Azores.^[2][17][1]
5. (informal) The biceps (lagarto do braço).^[2][4]
6. (cooking) A cut of beef from the rear of the thigh, used for roasting.^[2][4][1]
7. (Portugal, football, derogatory) A supporter of Sporting Clube de Portugal.^[17][1]
8. (Portugal) A person from the country, a provincial.^[2]
9. (nautical) A rope or a mat with gasket strips used on board.^[2][20]

Word family

• lagartear
• lagarto-do-mar
• lagarto-monitor
• peixe-lagarto

Related words

• lagarta
• lagartixa
• Latin lacertus
• Spanish lagarto

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lagarto
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. lagarto
4. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lagarto
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. lagarto
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 288
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 556
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. lagarto
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4821
10. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. lagarto
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lagartixa
13. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 4
14. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lagarto
15. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lagarto
16. ^ a b c Dalgado, Sebastião Rodolfo (1919–1921), Glossário luso-asiático, 2 vols., Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, p. 1, 504
17. ^ a b c d e 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. lagarto
18. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lagarto
19. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lagarto
20. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. lagarto