luzerna

luzerna¹ lamp, glow

Etymology tree of luzerna¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin lūceō

French luire

Portuguese luzir

Spanish lucir

Latin lūcerna

Italian lucerna

Portuguese luzerna

From the same root · luzerna¹

Latin collūceō ← lūceō

Latin ēlūceō ← lūceō

Latin illūceō ← lūceō

Latin lūcēscō ← lūceō

Latin lūcidus ← lūceō

Latin perlūceō ← lūceō

Latin reluceo ← lūceō

Spanish luciérnaga ← lūcerna

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /luˈzɛʁ.nɐ/, [luˈzɛɦ.nɐ]^[1]
• São-Paulo: /luˈzɛɾ.nɐ/^[1]
• Rio-de-Janeiro: /luˈzɛʁ.nɐ/^[1]
• Caipira: /luˈzɛɻ.nɐ/^[1]

Forms

luzerna f (plural luzernas)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a great light is inherited from Latin lucerna (“oil lamp”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Cunha dates it to the 14th century.^[3] The Latin noun is formed from lūceō (“to shine”), with the ending also seen in lanterna.^[6][1]

The same Latin word is Italian lucerna, Catalan lluerna and Occitan luzerno, and with a suffix Spanish luciérnaga “glow-worm”.^[7][8] The REW lists the Portuguese word in the sense “little glow-worm” among its outcomes.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha's 14th-century record already has the sense “glare, great light”.^[3] In the Cantigas de Santa Maria Luzerna is the name of a church in Constantinople, perhaps a rendering of Greek φάρος (pháros) “lighthouse”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1716), Morais (1789) and Vieira (1873) define luzerna as a glow-worm, a luminous insect.^[10][11][12] Vieira also gives the old sense “lamp”.^[12] Modern dictionaries keep “great light, glare” and an architectural sense, a skylight or dormer opening in a roof, the same as lucarna.^[2][13][14] Schlee marks the word as old and out of use in Rio Grande do Sul.^[15]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, in the sense “great light”.^[3]
• 1716 – Bluteau defines luzerna as a glow-worm.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais has the same sense.^[11]
• 1873 – Vieira gives “lamp” and “glow-worm” beside the plant.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A great light; a glare (clarão).^[2][13][5]
2. (architecture) A skylight, an opening in a roof; lucarna.^[2][14]
3. (archaic) An oil lamp.^[1][12]
4. (obsolete) A glow-worm.^[11][12]

luzerna² lucerne, alfalfa

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /luˈzɛʁ.nɐ/, [luˈzɛɦ.nɐ]^[1]
• São-Paulo: /luˈzɛɾ.nɐ/^[1]
• Rio-de-Janeiro: /luˈzɛʁ.nɐ/^[1]
• Caipira: /luˈzɛɻ.nɐ/^[1]

Forms

luzerna f (plural luzernas)^[2]

Etymology

The word for the fodder plant is borrowed from French luzerne.^{[2][4][5][13]} French took it in 1566, as lauserne, from Provençal luzerno.^[2][16] The Provençal name is held to be a metaphor, from the same word in the sense “glow-worm”, for the shining seeds of the plant; the DHLF finds the explanation rather strange.^[2][16][17] The Provençal word goes back to Old Occitan luzerna (“lamp”), from Latin lucerna.^[16] Porto takes the Provençal word in the sense “bright green”, and Michaelis gives lucern as the source.^[18][19]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date, 1836, is Constâncio's dictionary, which lists the word; the plant is in Vieira's dictionary in 1873, described as a leguminous meadow plant like clover.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 1836 – Constâncio's dictionary lists luzerna as the plant.^[2]
• 1873 – Vieira describes the cultivated meadow plant.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly Portugal) lucerne, alfalfa (Medicago sativa), a fodder plant with violet-blue flowers; alfafa.^[2][5][13]
2. A name for other plants of the same genus.^[18][19]