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olho

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word olho

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1200s Cancioneiro da Ajuda, as olhos More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin oclus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈo.ʎu/[1]
  • Portugal: /ˈo.ʎu/, /ˈoj.ʎu/[1]
  • Caipira: /ˈo.ju/[1]

Forms

olho m (plural olhos, metaphonic)[1] Houaiss records ollos in the 13th century, olhos, holhos and oolio in the 14th and oulhos in the 15th;[2][3] Cunha has ollo in the 13th.[2][3] Wiktionary lists oilho and the older accented spelling ôlho.[1] The plural has an open vowel, as Feijó (1734) showed by writing ôlhinho beside ólhos.[4][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin oclus, the popular form of Latin oculus (“eye”), written Old Galician-Portuguese olho and Old Galician-Portuguese ollo in the oldest texts.[2][3][1] The learned borrowing of the same Latin word is óculo, its doublet.[1]

The same Latin word is Galician ollo, Spanish ojo, Catalan ull, French œil, Italian occhio and Romanian ochi.[1][5] In Latin it also named things shaped like an eye: a spot on a fur, the eye of a peacock's tail, a bud of the vine.[2]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *ok(e)lo- and *h₃e/okʷ-(e)lo- (“eye”).[6] Most Indo-European languages have a simpler root noun or i-stem, as in ὄσσε (ósse, “the two eyes”) and akìs (“eye”), so he thinks the Latin form with -lo- was made within Italic.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The poets of the Cancioneiro da Ajuda speak of os meus olhos and estes meus olhos, the eyes that see or long for the lady.[7] The satirical cantigas already have olho mao “the evil eye” and a seu olho “to his mind, in his judgement”, and the cantigas d'amigo non poer os olhos “not to look at, to dislike”.[7] Universo Cantigas lists olho de boi and olho de cabra among the medieval expressions.[8]

Semantic evolution

Folqman (1755) has olho d’agoa “spring”, the olho of a hoe or an axe for the ring where the handle goes, a cheese cheio de olhos “full of holes”, the olho of a cabbage and the bud of a vine.[9] Spanish ojo de agua is recorded about 1280, a metaphor of the place where underground water “sees the light”.[10] Morais (1789) gathers phrases such as andar com o olho sobre o hombro “to be on the watch” and estar com os olhos em “to covet”.[11]

The modern language adds technical senses in printing, journalism and seafaring.[2] In Brazil olho gordo and olho grande mean envy, and in the north-east olho is the top of a tree.[2][12] The word lives on in the creoles as odju in Kabuverdianu, udju in Guinea-Bissau, olu in Kristang and wowo in Papiamentu.[1]

Timeline

  • 13th century – olhos and ollos in the Cancioneiro da Ajuda and the satirical cantigas.[7][2][3]
  • 13th century – first record of the verb olhar and of olheiras.[3]
  • c. 1430 – olho in the Horto do Esposo.[13]
  • 16th century – first records of antolhos and olhado.[3]
  • 1569 – Cardoso glosses olho with Latin oculus.[14]
  • 1611 – Barbosa lists phrases for the colours and shapes of eyes.[15]
  • 1755 – Folqman has olho d’agoa “spring” and the bud and hole senses.[9]
  • 1789 – Morais defines the organ through which the rays of light pass.[11]
  • 1881 – first record of olhadela.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (anatomy) The eye, the organ of sight.[2][16][1]
  2. A look, sight; the eyes as directed at something: Levantou os olhos do livro.[16][17]
  3. Attention, vigilance;[2][16] ficar de olho “to keep an eye on”.[2][16]
  4. (figurative) Sharp judgement, perceptiveness;[2] olho clínico “a gift for quick diagnosis”.[2]
  5. A small hole or opening; a hole in cheese or bread.[2][1]
  6. (botany) A bud, shoot; the heart of a vegetable: o olho da couve.[2][1]
  7. A spring of water, short for olho-d'água.[2][1]
  8. The hole of a millstone through which the grain falls; the ring of a tool in which the handle sits.[2][17]
  9. (printing) The face of a letter on a piece of type.[2]
  10. (journalism) A pull quote or short highlighted passage in an article.[2]
  11. (figurative) The centre: o olho do furacão “the eye of the storm”.[2][1]
  12. (north-eastern Brazil) The top of a tree.[12]

Interjection

  1. Watch out! (also olho vivo!).[2][16]

Word family

  • olhar
  • olhal
  • olheiras
  • olheiro
  • olhinho
  • antolhos
  • olho-d'água
  • olho-de-gato
  • olhômetro
  • binóculos
  • inocular
  • monóculo
  • ocular
  • oculista
  • óculo
  • óculos
  • Latin oculus
  • Galician ollo
  • Spanish ojo

Usage notes

Common set phrases are a olho nu “with the naked eye”, num abrir e fechar de olhos “in the blink of an eye” and custar os olhos da cara “to cost a fortune”.[1] Olho gordo and olho grande “envy” are Brazilian.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 s t u Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. olho
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. olho
  4. ^ 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. olho
  5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. oculus
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c 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. olho
  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. olho
  9. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. olho
  10. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ojo
  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, 131
  12. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. olho
  13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. olho
  14. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. olho
  15. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. olho
  16. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. olho
  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. olho

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Olho.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/olho. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·