névoa

Forms

névoa f (plural névoas)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote nevoa and neuoa, and nebla is also recorded in the 14th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nebula (“mist, fog”), written Old Galician-Portuguese nevoa and Old Galician-Portuguese neuoa in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1] The same Latin word is Galician néboa, Spanish niebla, Italian nebbia and Catalan neula.^[5][1] The learned nébula is a doublet of the same Latin word.^[1] Nascentes notes Nunes's view that the word is a recent one in the language.^[6]

The Latin noun goes back to *neβelā;^[7][1] Wiktionary derives it from *nébʰos (“cloud”), and de Vaan from a diminutive meaning “small cloud”; the word has close cognates in νεφέλη (nephélē, “cloud”), nebul and nifl (“darkness, haze”).^[7][1] Wiktionary notes that it is not related to nūbēs (“cloud”) despite the likeness.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the first records to the 14th century.^[2][3] A cantiga d'escarnho of Martin Anes Marinho mocks a pair of breeches feitas seran de nevoa d'antano “made of last year's mist”, that is, of nothing at all.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The derivatives are as old as the noun: the Crónica Troiana of the 14th century has aneuoado “misty”, and nevoeiro “fog” is recorded in the same century.^[3] Feijó and Morais define the word as a thick vapour that the sun raises, and Morais adds an eye disease that clouds the lens and a cloudiness of urine.^[10][11] The figurative senses, “obscurity” and “something that hinders the sight or the understanding”, follow in the 19th century dictionaries.^[12][2]

Meteorology now defines névoa as a mist thinner than the fog called nevoeiro.^[13][14] The word passed into the creole of Cape Verde as Kabuverdianu nébua.^[1]

Timeline

• 14th century – first records, spelt nevoa and neuoa.^[2][3] Aneuoado appears in the Crónica Troiana.^[2][3]
• 1734 – Feijó defines névoa as a thick vapour raised by the sun.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais adds the senses of an eye disease and of a cloud in the urine.^[11]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives the word from Latin nebula and quotes Gil Vicente's Auto da Mofina Mendes.^[15]
• 1975 – Aurélio gives the meteorological definition, a haze lighter than cerração.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. mist, haze: water vapour in the air near the ground, thinner than nevoeiro or cerração.^[2][13][1]
2. A lack of clearness or transparency; whatever blurs the sight: uma névoa de lágrimas.^[2][14]
3. (figurative) obscurity; something that hinders the understanding.^[2][17]
4. (popular) A whitish spot on the cornea that clouds the sight;^[18] (in the plural) cataract.^[2][18]
5. A cloudy substance in the urine.^[19][17]

Word family

• enevoar
• enevoado
• nevoeiro
• nevoento

Related words

• nébula
• nebuloso
• neblina
• Latin nebula
• Galician néboa
• Spanish niebla

Usage notes

Névoa seca “dry haze” is the haze made by solid particles such as dust, sand or ash.^[16][2] Porto Editora records ir-se em névoa “to vanish” and ter névoas nos olhos “to see or understand badly”.^[18]

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. névoa
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. névoa
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. névoa
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 353
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ 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. névoa
9. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. nevoa
10. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. névoa
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, 114
12. ^ 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. névoa
13. ^ a b 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. névoa
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. névoa
15. ^ 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, 431
16. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1975), Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p. 996
17. ^ 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. névoa
18. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6504
19. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. névoa