macho

Forms

macho m (plural machos)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin masculus (“male”), through the shortened Vulgar Latin masclus, written Old Galician-Portuguese macho in the oldest texts.^[2][1][3] The Appendix Probi already corrects the short form to the full one.^[4][3] Cunha calls the Portuguese word the popular doublet of the learned másculo.^[5][1]

The same Latin word is Spanish macho, Italian maschio and French mâle.^[3][6] The Latin adjective is a diminutive of mās (“male”), whose further origin is unclear.^[1]

For the noun “mule” C. Michaëlis de Vasconcelos proposed a separate source, mulo through forms such as *mulacho and *muacho;^[3][7][2] A. Coelho rejected it, and Houaiss lists “mule” as a sense of the same word.^[3][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado cites macho as a place name in 1258.^[8] A document of 1291 from Portel, in a copy of 1305, lists ouelhas e porcos machos e femẽas “sheep and pigs, male and female”, and the Crónica Geral and the Miragres de Santiago use it for the male of a species.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau notes that, as in Latin, the word is said of plants as well as animals.^[9] Pereira (1697) and Morais (1789) give first the sense “mule”, and Morais adds the part of a hinge that fits into the fêmea, a carpenter's tool and a shackle.^[10][11] Houaiss dates the technical sense of a part that fits into a female part to 1716.^[2] Barbosa (1611) has machoa for a mannish woman.^[12] In Brazil the word is used for a tough man and, informally, for a lover.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1258 – macho as a place name, cited by Machado.^[8]
• 1291 – porcos machos e femẽas in a document of Portel (copy of 1305).^[8]
• c. 1430 – the Horto do Esposo uses the word.^[14][8]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates it as Latin mas.^[15]
• 1697 – Pereira gives it the sense “mule”.^[10]
• 1716 – first date of the technical sense “part that fits into another”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. male: of the male sex.^[2][1]
2. Manly, virile; másculo.^[2][1]
3. (technology) Of a part that fits into a matching female part.^[2][1]

Noun

1. A male animal.^[2][16]
2. A man;^[2][1] (informal) a tough man, a he-man.^[2][1]
3. (informal) A lover, especially in concubinage.^[2]
4. A mule.^[2][17]
5. (mechanics) The part of a hinge or screw that fits into the female part.^[2][18]
6. (sewing) The hook of a hook-and-eye fastening.^[2]
7. (mechanics) A tap, a tool for cutting internal screw threads.^[2][18]
8. (sewing) A pair of opposed pleats.^[2]

Word family

• machão

Related words

• machismo
• machista
• masculinidade
• masculinizar
• masculino
• másculo
• Latin masculus

Usage notes

Aurélio also records MACHO, an English acronym (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Object) used in astronomy.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. macho
3. ^ a b c d e Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. macho
4. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre, p. s.v. masclus
5. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. másculo
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5392
7. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. macho
8. ^ a b c d e 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. macho
9. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. macho
10. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. macho
11. ^ 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, 40
12. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. macho
13. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. macho
14. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. macho
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. macho
16. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. macho
17. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. macho
18. ^ 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. macho