pepino

Forms

pepino m (plural pepinos)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3] Houaiss and Cunha explain it from an old word for “melon”, *pepom, which was taken for an augmentative and given the diminutive suffix -ino.^[2][3] Most other sources consider it borrowed from Spanish pepino,^{[4][5][6][7][1]} and Aurélio says so with a “possibly”.^[8] Nascentes allows both.^[9]

Corominas explains the Spanish word in the same way: it was extracted from old pepón (“melon”), felt to be an augmentative, and is recorded from about 1400.^[10][11] Both go back to Latin pepo (“a kind of large melon”),^[12][2][3] which is from Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn, “ripe; a kind of melon”), from πέσσω (péssō, “to ripen”).^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to the 15th century, from Cunha's medieval index;^[2][3] Cunha's own dictionary has the 18th century.^[2][3] Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary of 1569 renders pepino by Latin cucumis “cucumber”.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The word names the fruit and also the plant, the pepineiro, and stands beside the older cogombro and cocombro.^[2] Michaelis lists compounds for other plants and for a sea animal, pepino-do-mar.^[14]

In Brazil it came to mean a troublesome problem or a situation hard to resolve.^[1][15] Popular speech in Portugal uses it for a weak, sickly person.^[6] The word was borrowed into Ambonese Malay as papinyu.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – Spanish pepino is first recorded.^[10]
• 1400s – first Portuguese record, in Cunha's medieval index.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso enters Pepino with Latin cucumis.^[13]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses it with cucumer and cucumis.^[16]
• 1858 – first record of pepineiro.^[3]
• 1873 – first record of pepineira.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. cucumber, the fruit of the pepineiro, eaten in salads or pickled.^[2][17][1]
2. The cucumber plant (Cucumis sativus); pepineiro.^[2][6][1]
3. (Brazil, informal) A problem, a difficult or awkward situation.^[1][15]
4. (Portugal, popular) A weak, sickly person.^[6]

Word family

• pepineiro
• pepineira

Related words

• Spanish pepino
• Latin pepo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pepino
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. pepino
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 390
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6395
6. ^ a b c d 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. pepino
7. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7059
8. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. pepino
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. pepino
10. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 481
11. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pepino
12. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. pepo
13. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. pepino
14. ^ 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. pepino
15. ^ a b 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. pepino
16. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. pepino
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. pepino