neve

Forms

neve f (plural neves)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling neue in the 14th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nix (“snow”), through a Vulgar Latin accusative ⟨*nevem⟩ altered from classical ⟨nivem⟩, written Old Galician-Portuguese neve in the oldest texts.^[2][1][3]

The same Latin word is Galician neve, Spanish nieve, Catalan neu, Italian neve, Old French noif and Romanian nea.^[4][1] Nascentes notes that the Latin short /i/ gave an open /ɛ/ here, and Corominas supposes the same Vulgar Latin form behind the Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and Occitan words.^[5][6][1] Nascentes and Corominas explain it by the influence of the other word of winter weather, nebula (“fog”) (Nascentes thinks of Portuguese névoa), while Wiktionary also allows an early lowering of the vowel before the following consonant.^[5][6][1]

Wiktionary derives the Latin word from Proto-Italic *sniks, from Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“snow”), which also gave Ancient Greek νίψ (níps) and English snow.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria compare a fair colour with snow (de coor mais bela / era que nona neve) and tell of snow falling thickly (caer nev' espessamente).^[7] A cantiga of mockery by Alfonso X has que é geada ou nev' e non al “that it is frost or snow and nothing else”.^[7][8] Houaiss dates the word to the 13th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Already in the cantigas snow was the measure of whiteness and of cold: a knight burning with lust tornou mais frio ca neve “became colder than snow”.^[7] The figurative senses “extreme whiteness” and “white hair” and the sense “intense cold” are in the dictionaries.^[2][3] Morais in 1813 records neve for a preparation of fruit juice, milk or lemonade frozen to be eaten, a sorbet, still used in Portugal.^[9][2] Cooking has claras em neve, egg whites beaten stiff, and electronics the white speckle on a television or radar screen.^[2] In some Brazilian dialect surveys the word names hail, dew or drizzle.^[10]

Kabuverdianu has nevi, from the Portuguese word.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century – neve in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[7]
• 13th century – first date of the verb nevar.^[11]
• 14th century – the spelling neue.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses Neve with Latin nix and lists Coadeyra pera coar neve.^[12]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses neve and de neve.^[13]
• 1813 – Morais records the frozen-dessert sense.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. snow, precipitation of ice crystals in flakes: Caiu neve na serra durante a noite.^[2][3][1]
2. A layer of snow lying on the ground.^[2][3]
3. (figurative) Intense cold.^[2][3][14]
4. (figurative) Extreme whiteness; white hair, cãs.^[2][3][14]
5. (Portugal) A frozen dessert of sugar with milk or fruit juice; a sorbet.^[2][14]
6. (electronics) White speckle on a television or radar screen.^[2]

Word family

• nevar
• nevado
• neveiro

Related words

• níveo
• Latin nix
• Spanish nieve
• Galician neve

Usage notes

Neves perpétuas or eternas are the snows on the highest peaks that never melt.^[15][16] Em neve describes egg whites beaten to a stiff foam.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. neve
3. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. neve
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5936
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. neve
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nieve
7. ^ a b c d 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. neve
8. ^ 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. neve
9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 342
10. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. neve
11. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. nevar
12. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. neve
13. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. neve
14. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. neve
15. ^ 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. neve
16. ^ 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. neve