lixívia

Forms

lixívia f (plural lixívias)^[1] Morais's dictionary of 1789 heads the word lexivia and refers lixívia to it.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin lixīvia (“lye”), a learned word.^[4][5][1] Latin had both the feminine (with cinis (“ash”) understood) and the neuter lixīvium for lye.^[4][6] They are the feminine and neuter of the adjective lixīvius (“made into lye”), a variant of lixīvus, from lix (“ashes, lye”).^[7][6][1] Aurélio calls the source Late Latin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bluteau (1716) calls lixívia a physician's word meaning the same as barrela or decoada, the lye of ashes used for washing, and describes a diuretic lye made from the ashes of bean pods and broom.^[9][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word was the alkaline solution for bleaching linen, made by pouring hot water through wood ash or with soda.^[10] Vieira also gives a chemists' sense, the process of passing water through a substance many times.^[10] Chemistry made it any solution produced by lixiviation and, in paper-making, the black liquor left by cooking the pulp.^[4][11] In Portugal today lixívia is above all household bleach, a solution of sodium hypochlorite, while Porto marks the old sense of barrela as dated.^[11][12][13] Houaiss records a figurative sense, a whitewashing of historical or ideological facts.^[4]

Timeline

• 1716 – Bluteau lists lixívia as a physician's word.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais heads the word lexivia.^[3]
• 1873 – Vieira describes the bleaching lye and the chemists' sense.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. lye: an alkaline solution, especially of sodium or potassium carbonate, for washing and bleaching cloth; barrela.^{[4][8][14][1]}
2. (Portugal) Household bleach, a solution of sodium hypochlorite used for washing and disinfecting.^[11][12]
3. (chemistry) A solution obtained by lixiviation (lixiviação); a solution or suspension produced by an industrial process.^[4][8]
4. (figurative) A whitewashing of historical or ideological facts.^[4]

Word family

• lixiviar
• lixiviação
• lixivioso

Related words

• Latin lixīvia

Usage notes

Lixívia negra is the black liquor of the paper industry.^[4][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 10
3. ^ a b 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, 19
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lixívia
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lixívia
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lixívia
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. lixívia
10. ^ a b c 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, 1305
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. lixívia
12. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5738
13. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. lixívia
14. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. lixívia