osso

Forms

osso m (plural ossos, metaphonic)^[1] Houaiss records the 15th-century spellings osoos, osos and ousso.^[2] The plural ossos is metaphonic, with an open stressed vowel.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ossum (“bone”), the popular variant of os (“bone”), with the same form in the oldest texts.^[2][1][3] De Vaan finds ossum from Accius on, and Corominas notes that it is frequent in Latin from the 4th century and that the Romance languages kept only this form.^[4][5] The same Latin word is Galician óso, Spanish hueso, Catalan os, French os, Italian osso, Romanian os and Sardinian ossu.^[6][1]

For the classical noun de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *ost and Proto-Indo-European *h₃o/est- (“bone”), with cognates such as Ancient Greek ὀστέον (ostéon) and Hittite haštāi.^[4] Wiktionary gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *h₃ésth₁ (“bone”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology antedates Machado's record of 1517 with the Cantigas de Santa Maria: log'os ossos foron ben soldados “at once the bones were well knit”, and non á osso são / na cabeça “there is no sound bone in his head”.^[7] The Crónica Troiana has the wound going so deep que lle pareçia o osso “that the bone showed”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the Cantigas de Santa Maria the plural already means a person's remains, laid in a tomb.^[7] Barbosa (1611) lists ossinho, juntas dos ossos “joints” and ossada.^[8] Bluteau (1712–1728) describes the skeleton as a building, with the bones of the feet as foundations and the skull as a vault.^[9]

Figurative senses are a difficulty or obstacle and, by metaphor, a comfortable job.^[2][10][1] In Brazilian slang it also means a mistress, and as an adjective “difficult”, “annoying”, “fearless” or “capable”.^[2][10][1] The anatomical term osso sacro “sacrum” renders the Latin name, itself a calque of the Greek “sacred bone”: Houaiss explains it by the ancient custom of offering that part of the victim to the gods.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record, in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[7][2]
• 15th century – the spellings osoos, osos and ousso.^[2]
• 1513 – the Livro dos Mártires has the word.^[11]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates it with Latin os.^[12]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists ossinho and ossada.^[8]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the bones of the body.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) A bone, one of the hard pieces that make up the skeleton of vertebrates.^{[2][10][13][1]}
2. Bone as a material.^[1]
3. (figurative) A difficulty, an obstacle: Aquela prova foi um osso.^[2][10][1]
4. (figurative) A comfortable, well-paid job.^[2]
5. (Brazil, slang) A mistress or lover.^[2][10]
6. (in the plural) Mortal remains.^[2][14]

Adjective

1. (Brazil, informal) Difficult; annoying.^[1]
2. (Brazil, informal) Fearless; capable.^[2]

Word family

• desossar
• ossada
• ossinho
• ossudo
• ossaria

Related words

• ossamenta
• ossatura
• ósseo
• ossário
• ossuário
• ossificar
• Latin os
• Galician óso
• Spanish hueso

Usage notes

Common set phrases are osso duro de roer “a tough nut to crack”, ossos do ofício “the hazards of the trade” and em carne e osso “in the flesh”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. osso
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. osso
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 420
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ossum
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. osso
8. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. osso
9. ^ 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. osso
10. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. osso
11. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. osso
12. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. osso
13. ^ 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. osso
14. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. osso