ouriço

Forms

ouriço m (plural ouriços)^[1] Morais's dictionary of 1813 also has the form ourizo.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ēricius (“hedgehog”).^[2][3][1][4] Cunha passes through an older form erício.^[3] The initial ⟨ou-⟩ is not the regular outcome: Wiktionary allows a form Vulgar Latin *auricius, and Corominas explains it, in a wide area of the Peninsula, by the influence of auricula and auris (“ear”), used as names of shells and molluscs.^[1][5]

The same Latin word is Galician ourizo, Asturian oriciu, Spanish erizo, Catalan eriçó, Occitan eriç, French hérisson, Italian riccio and Romanian arici.^[1][6] The forms with ⟨o-⟩ or ⟨ou-⟩ recur in Galician, Asturian, the Spanish of Santander and French oursin (“sea urchin”).^[5]

The Latin noun is derived from ēr (“hedgehog”).^[7][8] De Vaan takes this from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰḗr (“hedgehog”), a root noun to a root meaning “to bristle”, and compares Ancient Greek χήρ (khḗr), known only from Hesychius.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to the 15th century, from Cunha's medieval slips, and Cunha's addenda move his first date from the 16th century to the 15th.^[2][3] Cunha's article heads the sense “husk of the chestnut”, and gives ouriçado “bristling” from the 16th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Nascentes explains the husk of the chestnut as a comparison with the hedgehog, for its spines.^[4] Bluteau defines ouriço as the prickly green covering of the chestnut and adds ouriço do mar, the sea urchin; describing the walnut tree, he calls its green husk ouriço too.^[9][10] Morais (1789) adds the ouriço cacheiro, the hedgehog, and a beam set with iron spikes placed at the entrance of a barrier in fortifications.^[11] Later dictionaries record a siege engine of the same name, and figuratively a haughty or touchy person.^[12][13] Brazilian Portuguese uses the word for a spiked metal holder for flower arrangements, and in slang for great excitement or a lively party.^[2][14]

Timeline

• 1400s – first records.^[2][3]
• 1500s – first record of ouriçado.^[3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the chestnut husk and ouriço do mar.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais records ouriço cacheiro and the spiked beam of fortifications.^[11]
• 1813 – the form ourizo.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hedgehog, a small spiny insectivore of the family Erinaceidae; ouriço-cacheiro.^[2][13][1]
2. The spiny husk of the chestnut, and the hard or prickly outer covering of other fruits.^[2][14][1]
3. A sea urchin; ouriço-do-mar.^[2][1]
4. (historical) A spiked beam used as a military obstacle; a heavy siege engine.^[12][11]
5. (figurative, informal) A haughty or touchy person.^[13][12]
6. (Brazil) A metal holder with sharp points for arranging flowers.^[2]
7. (Brazil, slang) Great excitement or bustle.^[2][14]

Word family

• ouriçado
• ouriçar
• enouriçar
• ouriço-cacheiro
• ouriço-do-mar

Related words

• eriçar
• Galician ourizo
• Spanish erizo

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ouriço
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. ouriço
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ouriço
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 657
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. ericius
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. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. erizo
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. ouriço
10. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. nogueira
11. ^ a b c 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, 142
12. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ouriço
13. ^ a b c 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. ouriço
14. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ouriço