Etymologically
Log in

loa

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word loa

Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1500s More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin laudō

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈlo(w).ɐ/, [ˈlo(ʊ̯).ɐ][1]
  • Portugal: /ˈlo.ɐ/[1]
  • Northern, Portugal: /ˈlo(w).ɐ/[1]

Forms

loa f (plural loas)[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Portuguese loar (“to praise”), the old verb that is a popular form of louvar.[2][3][4][5][1] The verb, written Old Galician-Portuguese loar in the cantigas, comes from Latin laudō (“to praise”).[6][7] The Crónica Geral shows three stages of the verb: Old Galician-Portuguese louar, then the form with the diphthong reduced, and the form with a /v/ added to break the hiatus.[7]

Bluteau (1716) and Vieira (1873) derived the noun from Latin laus (“praise”), and Nascentes cites the same derivation from Adolfo Coelho.[8][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha dates loa to the 16th century.[3] Houaiss's date of 1635, from the Insulana, is for the sense “speech of praise”; his first sense is the prologue of Portuguese and Spanish plays of the 16th and 17th centuries, meant to win the audience over.[2]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau explains the theatrical sense: the actor who spoke the loa usually praised the play or excused the poet's faults.[8] Morais (1789) gives the same prologue sense and a general “praise”.[11] From the prologue the word spread to any speech of praise, to songs in honour of the saints or the Virgin, and to Christmas carols.[2][12][1] In the Azores loa was the verse recited or sung to announce a play to the people.[13][1] In Alagoas it is a gentle, melancholy song of the canoe-men, sung to the stroke of the oars.[2][14] Popular speech also uses it for a lie or idle talk.[13][5]

Timeline

  • 16th century – first record, according to Cunha.[3]
  • 1635 – the Insulana has loa as a speech of praise.[2]
  • 1716 – Bluteau explains the loas of comedies and tragedies.[8]
  • 1789 – Morais defines it as the prologue of a drama.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (theatre, historical) A prologue to a play in the Portuguese and Spanish theatre of the 16th and 17th centuries.[2][12]
  2. A speech of praise; elogio, apologia.[2][12][1]
  3. A song in praise of God, the Virgin or the saints; a carol.[2][1]
  4. (Alagoas) A melancholy rowing song of the canoe-men.[2][14]
  5. (informal, in the plural) Lies, boasting;[2][5] (popular) a tall story.[2][5]

Usage notes

Cantar loas a alguém is to praise someone in the hope of gain, and não ir em loas is not to be taken in by flattery.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. loa
  3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. loa
  4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. loa
  5. ^ a b c d 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. loa
  6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. loar
  7. ^ 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. loar
  8. ^ 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. loa
  9. ^ 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, 1330
  10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 302
  11. ^ 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, 10
  12. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. loa
  13. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. loa
  14. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. loa
  15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. loa
  16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5739
Cite this entry

“Loa.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/loa. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·