Etymologically
Log in

maravilhoso

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word maravilhoso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1200s Cantigas de Santa Maria, spelt maravilloso More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin mīror
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Portuguese maravilha
Portuguese maravilhoso

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ma.ɾa.viˈʎo.zu/[1]
  • Portugal: /mɐ.ɾɐ.viˈʎo.zu/[1]
  • Northern, Portugal: /mɐ.ɾɐ.biˈʎo.zu/, [mɐ.ɾɐ.βiˈʎo.zu][1]

Forms

maravilhoso (feminine maravilhosa, masculine plural maravilhosos, feminine plural maravilhosas, metaphonic)[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote maravilloso (13th century), then maravilhosa, maruhlhossa and maravylhosas (14th century).[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese maravilha + -oso, written Old Galician-Portuguese maravilloso in the oldest texts.[2][4][5][1] The noun is from Latin mīrābilia (“wonderful things”), the neuter plural of mīrābilis (“wonderful”), from mīror (“to wonder at”).[6][7]

The same formation is Spanish maravilloso.[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears in the Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century, almost always of miracles: maravilloso miragre "wonderful miracle" (cantiga 17), miragres fremosos... e maravillosos (cantiga 37), and meninnas de maravillosa / beldad' "girls of wonderful beauty" (cantiga 79).[9] The Crónica Troiana says of a deed that it was moy grande et moy maravilloso "very great and very marvellous".[9]

Semantic evolution

The medieval word described what causes wonder, above all the supernatural deeds of the saints; the adverb maravillosamente was already a mere intensifier in the Cantigas (maravillosament'erra "errs greatly").[9] Bluteau (1712) glosses it admiravel and extraordinario, and Morais (1789) adds portentoso and milagroso.[10][11]

Modern Portuguese uses it chiefly as a strong word of praise, "excellent, beautiful, delightful", of things and of people.[2][4] As a noun, o maravilhoso is the supernatural or marvellous, and in literary criticism the intervention of supernatural beings in an epic or tragedy, as in Os Lusíadas.[2][12]

Timeline

  • 13th century, second half – maravilloso miragre in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.[9][2]
  • 14th century – the spellings maravilhosa and maravylhosas.[2][3]
  • 1475 – maravilhoso in the Vida de Santa Maria Egipcíaca (witness 1475–1500).[13]
  • 1527 – the first record in Machado's dictionary, which Lorenzo antedates with the Cantigas.[9]
  • 1712 – Bluteau glosses it admiravel and extraordinario.[10]
  • 1789 – Morais defines it as causing wonder or astonishment.[11]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Causing great admiration, astonishment or delight; wonderful: Do miradouro vê-se uma paisagem maravilhosa.[2][4][1]
  2. Excellent, of the highest quality; primoroso.[2][5]
  3. Very beautiful, charming.[2][4]
  4. Of a person, having many good qualities.[2]
  5. Supernatural, miraculous, beyond rational explanation; using magical or fantastic elements.[2][5][12]

Noun

  1. That which is wonderful or extraordinary.[2][4]
  2. (literature) The supernatural intervention that changes the course of the action in an epic, tragedy or tale.[2][14][5]

Word family

  • maravilhosamente

Usage notes

The stressed vowel is closed /o/ in the masculine singular and open /ɔ/ in the feminine and the plural (maravilhosa, maravilhosos).[15][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. maravilhoso
  3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. maravilhoso
  4. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. maravilhoso
  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. maravilhoso
  6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. maravilha
  7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. maravilha
  8. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. maravilloso
  9. ^ 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. maravilloso
  10. ^ 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. maravilhoso
  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, 57
  12. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5950
  13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. maravilhoso
  14. ^ 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. maravilhoso
  15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. maravilhoso

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Maravilhoso.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/maravilhoso. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·