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maneira

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word maneira

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1270 More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin *manuaria
Ultimate origin
Latin manus

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /maˈne(j).ɾɐ/, [maˈne(ɪ̯).ɾɐ], /ˈmɐ̃.ne(j).ɾɐ/[1]
  • Portugal: /mɐˈnɐj.ɾɐ/[1]
  • Northern, Portugal: /mɐˈnej.ɾɐ/[1]
  • Central, Portugal: /mɐˈnej.ɾɐ/[1]

Forms

maneira f (plural maneiras)[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote maneira, maneyra and mãneyra;[2][3] manera appears in the 15th century.[2][3]

Etymology

Most sources hold that it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *manuāria, the feminine used as a noun of Latin manuārius (“of the hand, handy”), from manus (“hand”); it is written Old Galician-Portuguese maneira and Old Galician-Portuguese maneyra in the oldest texts.[4][2][5][1] The adjective came to mean “skilful”, and the feminine noun “skill”, then “a fitting way of doing something”, as Corominas explains for Spanish manera.[6][2] Houaiss cites a form Medieval Latin manaria or manuaria of Portugal.[2] Nascentes (1966) and Aurélio see a noun made from the feminine of the adjective maneiro “handy”, of the same origin.[7][8] Wiktionary describes it as corresponding to mão with the suffix -eira.[1]

Older views differ: Vieira (1871) took it from French manière, and Nascentes (1955) reports that Meyer-Lübke derived it from Old Occitan maniera;[9][10][6] Corominas treats the Spanish word as a popular one, and it is already spelt Old Spanish maneira in a document of Nájera in 1152.[9][10][6] Nascentes adds that the /n/ was kept between vowels because the diphthong protected it, and that the Latin /u/ was absorbed by the stressed /a/.[10]

Besides the Spanish and French words, the same word is Galician maneira, Catalan manera, Occitan manièra and Italian maniera;[1][10] the English word manner comes from the French.[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first records are from 1270 and 1273.[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria have the word often, in phrases such as de muitas maneiras “in many ways” and de çen mil maneiras “in a hundred thousand ways”.[3] In the cantigas d'amigo and d'escarnho per nulha maneira means “in no way at all”.[3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval word meant “way, manner, form”, and was used as an intensifier in de gran maneira “greatly”.[3] Cardoso (1569) and Pereira (1697) translate it with Latin modus, and Bluteau (1712) gives à maneira de “like” and de maneira que “so that”.[11][12][13]

Morais (1789) adds the painter's style of colouring, and an opening in a skirt for the hand to reach the pocket.[14] The plural maneiras came to mean “manners, behaviour”.[15][16]

Timeline

  • 1152 – Spanish maneira in a document of Nájera.[6]
  • 1270 – first Portuguese record.[2]
  • 13th century, second half – frequent in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.[3]
  • c. 1400 – maneira in a fragment of the Flos Sanctorum.[17]
  • 1569 – Cardoso translates maneira by Latin modus.[11]
  • 1712 – Bluteau lists à maneira de and de maneira que.[13]
  • 1789 – Morais records the painter's style.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. manner, way: how something is or is done: Não gosto da maneira como ele fala.[2][1]
  2. A method or means of doing something: Não há maneira de abrir esta porta.[2][15]
  3. The personal style of an artist or writer.[2][1]
  4. Appearance, look, aspect.[1][15]
  5. (in the plural) manners; polite behaviour: ter boas maneiras.[15][16]
  6. An opening in the side of a skirt for putting it on or reaching a pocket.[18][19]

Word family

  • amaneirar
  • maneirismo
  • maneirista
  • maneiroso
  • sobremaneira

Usage notes

Common phrases: de maneira que “so that”;[1][20] à maneira de “in the manner of”;[1][20] de qualquer maneira “anyway”;[1][20] de maneira nenhuma “by no means”;[1][20] sobremaneira “exceedingly”.[1][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. maneira
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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. maneira
  4. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. maneira
  5. ^ 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. maneira
  6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 806
  7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. maneira
  8. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. maneira
  9. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 91
  10. ^ 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. 314
  11. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. maneira
  12. ^ 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. maneira
  13. ^ 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. maneira
  14. ^ 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, 52
  15. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5905
  16. ^ 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. maneira
  17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. maneira
  18. ^ 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. maneira
  19. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 258
  20. ^ a b c d e Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. maneira

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Maneira.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/maneira. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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