lombriga

Forms

lombriga f (plural lombrigas)^[1] Houaiss records lonbrigas in the 14th century and lombriguas in the 15th.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lumbrīcus (“earthworm; intestinal worm”), written Old Galician-Portuguese lombriga in the oldest texts, with a change from masculine to feminine.^[2][1][3] Michaelis and DELPo start from a feminine *lumbrīca.^[4][5] Nascentes notes that Columella and Pliny already use the Latin word for an intestinal worm.^[3]

The same Latin word is Galician lombriga, Asturian llombriga, Catalan llombric, Italian lombrico and Romanian limbric.^[6][7] Spanish lombriz comes instead from Vulgar Latin lumbrix, an alteration due to the frequency of the Latin plural.^[8] French lombric is a learned borrowing.^[9]

De Vaan finds that “earthworm” is the older and commoner meaning in Latin, the sense “intestinal worm” being a metaphor; the suffix recalls umbilīcus (“navel”) and formīca (“ant”), but the origin of the word remains unclear.^[10] The DHLF mentions a comparison with Welsh llyngyr (“intestinal worms”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is the plural lonbrigas in the 14th century, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese;^[2][11] Cunha also dates the word to the 14th century.^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the intestinal worm;^[12][13] Folqman (1755) translates it with Latin lumbricus, and Vieira (1871–1874) gives both the earthworm and the roundworm found in the human intestine.^[12][13] Modern dictionaries define it above all as the roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides.^[2][14][15] The old Caldas Aulete quotes Diogo Fernandes Ferreira's Arte da Caça on falcons that fall ill and waste away when lombrigas breed in them.^[16]

Timeline

• 14th century – lonbrigas.^[2][11]
• 15th century – lombriguas.^[2]
• 1755 – Folqman lists lombriga.^[12]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records both the earthworm and the intestinal worm.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) Any of the nematode worms that live as parasites in the intestine, especially the roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides of humans and pigs: O menino foi tratado contra lombrigas.^[2][14][1]
2. (zoology) An earthworm; also used loosely of other worms.^[15][17]

Related words

• lombricoide
• Latin lumbrīcus
• Spanish lombriz

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lombriga
3. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lombriga
4. ^ 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. lombriga
5. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. lombriga
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5158
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. lumbricus
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 690
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. lombric
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. lombriga
12. ^ a b c Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lombriga
13. ^ 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, 1336
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lombriga
15. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5758
16. ^ 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. lombriga
17. ^ 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. lombriga