lapa

Forms

lapa f (plural lapas)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][1] Houaiss calls it controversial and probably pre-Celtic, from a word lappa (“stone”).^[2] Cunha and Porto Editora take it inherited from Vulgar Latin lapa (“stone”), a word of the Latin of Lusitania taken from that pre-Celtic word, and Nascentes and Aurélio also start from the pre-Celtic form.^[3][4][5][6] Earlier scholars proposed Latin lapis (“stone”) (Adolfo Coelho) or, doubtfully, Ancient Greek λάπαθον (lápathon, “pit”) (Diez).^[7]

The word is shared with Spanish lapa “rock that juts out over a hollow; cave” and some Occitan dialects.^[8] Corominas leaves its origin open and thinks it may be expressive.^[8] Galician lapa has the same senses.^[9] For the mollusc, Nascentes explains the name from the stone, since the limpet lives clinging to rocks.^[5] Corominas, writing on the Spanish word, prefers an older Spanish sense “burdock”, from Latin lappa, because the limpet holds on as the burrs of that plant do.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin charter of 907 already has de illa lapa ad illa fonte de lodares “from the rock to the spring of Lodares”.^[11][2] Cunha dates the Portuguese word to the 14th century with the sense “large stone or slab that forms a natural shelter”, and Houaiss also records it in the 14th century.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From the overhanging rock the word passed to the hollow it shelters, a shallow cave: Cardoso (1569) glosses it spelunca and Barbosa (1611) lapa, ou cova.^[12][13] Bluteau (1712–1728) speaks of a lapa de Belem, the grotto of the Nativity.^[14] The name of the mollusc, the limpet, is dated by Houaiss to the 15th century and by Cunha to the 17th.^[2][3] Corominas notes the Portuguese word in this sense in 1635.^[10] Morais (1813) describes it as a shellfish with a striped shell that lives stuck to stones.^[15]

Vieira adds the holes in the rocks of a river bank or the sea where fish hide.^[16] Regional senses include “loose stone” and “hill” in Portugal, a kind of potato in the Minho, and a vault of charcoal that a smith builds over the iron to keep in the heat; in north-eastern Brazil lapa is a chunk or piece, as in lapa de mulher “a fine woman”.^[2][17][18] The word is common in place names, among them Lapa in Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Lisbon.^[1]

Timeline

• 907 – a Latin charter writes de illa lapa.^[11]
• 14th century – first record as a Portuguese word.^[3][2]
• c. 1430 – lapa in the Horto do Esposo (witness 1390–1437).^[19]
• 15th century – Houaiss's first date for the limpet.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses lapa with Latin spelunca.^[12]
• 1635 – the limpet sense in a Portuguese text.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais gives both the cave and the shellfish.^[20]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large rock or slab that juts out from a cliff and forms a shelter underneath.^[2][4][1]
2. A hollow in a rock; a grotto, cave.^[2][21][1]
3. (geology, mining) The floor of a mine working; in Minas Gerais, a cave in a hillside.^[2][22]
4. (zoology) A limpet, a small marine gastropod with a conical shell that clings to rocks, especially Patella vulgata.^[2][17][1]
5. (Portugal, regional) A loose stone; a hill.^[2][17]
6. (north-eastern Brazil) A chunk, piece.^[2][18]
7. (figurative) A tiresome, clinging person.^[21][4]

Related words

• lapedo

Usage notes

In Portugal lapa is also a popular word for a slap in the face.^[2][21] Aurélio enters it as a separate word, and Michaelis takes it from a Germanic lappa.^[6][22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. lapa
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. lapa
4. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5579
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lapa
6. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lapa
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 290
8. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 579
9. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. lapa
10. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. lapa
11. ^ a b 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. lapa
12. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lapa
13. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lapa
14. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lapa
15. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 205
16. ^ 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, 1261
17. ^ 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. lapa
18. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. lapa
19. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. lapa
20. ^ 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, 7
21. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. lapa
22. ^ a b 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. lapa