moinho

Forms

moinho m (plural moinhos)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote moỹo, moyno, moyos and moynhos; the 14th century has moiios, mouios and moio, and the 15th muynho.^[2][3] Wiktionary also lists munho.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin molīnum (“mill”), which Houaiss explains as short for Late Latin saxum molīnum (“grinding stone”).^[2][3][1][4] García de Diego cites molinum saxum from Tertullian and molinae from Ammianus.^[5] Wiktionary takes the noun as the neuter of the adjective molīnus, from molō (“to grind”).^[1] The early forms show the loss of the Latin /l/ and /n/ between vowels that is typical of Galician-Portuguese.^[2][6]

The same Latin word is Galician muíño, Spanish molino, Catalan molí, French moulin and Italian mulino.^[7][1] Portuguese also has moinha and muinha “chaff”.^[7]

The verb molō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush, grind”), which also gave Ancient Greek μύλη (múlē, “mill”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌽 (malan) and Lithuanian málti.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1273 from Cunha's medieval index, with the plural moyos in the 13th century;^[2][3] Cunha gives moỹo and moyno in the same century.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has always meant both the grinding machine and the building that houses it.^[2] Cardoso (1569) glosses it as a water mill, and Bluteau lists the many parts of a mill, the wheel, the paddles, the millstones and the hopper among them.^[9][10] Morais (1789) describes it as driven by running water or by the wind.^[11] Vieira records the moinho de vento and the figurative fazer vir a agua ao seu moinho, to draw an advantage to oneself.^[12]

The word then spread to any grinding machine, such as the coffee or pepper mill, and in Portugal to the olive press and the amount of olives pressed at once.^[2][13] Informally a moinho is a glutton, and in Brazil the name of a ribbon dance.^[2][14]

Timeline

• 1273 – first record.^[2]
• 13th century – moỹo and moyno.^[3]
• 1365 – the plurals moiios and mouios.^[2]
• 15th century – muynho.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses Moinho with Latin pistrinum aquarium “water mill”.^[9]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists the parts of a mill.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais describes mills driven by water or wind.^[11]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records moinho de vento.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mill: a machine with two millstones, driven by wind, water, animals or a motor, for grinding grain.^[2][15][1]
2. The building that houses such a machine.^[2][15][1]
3. Any machine for grinding: moinho de café, moinho de pimenta;^[2][13][1] (chiefly Portugal) a kitchen grinder.^[2][13][1]
4. An olive press; the quantity of olives ground at one time.^[2][13]
5. (informal) A person who eats a lot and fast.^[2][14]
6. (dance, music) The ribbon dance pau-de-fita.^[2]

Word family

• moinho de vento

Related words

• mó
• moedeira
• moedor
• moenda
• moente
• moer
• moinha
• moleiro
• Latin molinum
• Galician muíño
• Spanish molino

Usage notes

The proverb águas passadas não movem moinhos “past waters don't turn mills” means that what is over no longer matters.^[1] Moinhos de vento “windmills” are, figuratively, fantastic or impossible things.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. moinho
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. moinho
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. moinho
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. molinum
6. ^ Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa, ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, https://ciberduvidas.iscte-iul.pt
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5644
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. moinho
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. moinho
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, 90
12. ^ 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, 291
13. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. moinho
14. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6252
15. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. moinho