prata

Forms

prata f (usually uncountable, plural pratas)^[1]

Etymology

According to Houaiss it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *platta (“metal sheet”), the feminine of *plattus (“flat”) used as a noun in Medieval Latin for a sheet of metal; it replaced Latin argentum (“silver”).^[2] It is written Old Galician-Portuguese prata from the 13th century.^[2][3] The Portuguese and Spanish words narrowed the sense from a metal sheet to silver itself.^[3][4] Machado and Nascentes, following Meyer-Lübke, take the word from the Old Occitan plata (“metal sheet”) instead.^[2][3][5]

The same word is Galician prata and Spanish plata; prato and chato go back to the same Vulgar Latin adjective.^[1][4] The Vulgar Latin adjective is traced to Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “broad, flat”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is plata in 1136, after Machado.^[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria speak of our'e prata “gold and silver”, and the Crónica Troiana of the gold and silver robbed from a temple.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval language prata is the metal and things made of it, often paired with ouro “gold”; the Miragres de Santiago have dineiros de prata “silver pennies”.^[3] Morais (1789) lists prata lavrada “wrought silver, plate” and prata em barra “silver in bars”.^[7] In Brazil it is an informal word for money and for one real.^[2][1] Prata da casa “the house silver” means the resources one already has, and in football a player bred by the club.^[2]

Timeline

• 1136 – plata, the first date Houaiss gives after Machado.^[2]
• 13th century – prata in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3][2]
• c. 1430 – the Horto do Esposo uses the word.^[8]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates it as Latin argentum.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais records prata lavrada and prata em barra.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. silver, the chemical element of atomic number 47 (Ag), a white precious metal.^[2][1]
2. Things made of silver: silverware, coins, plate; prataria.^[2][1]
3. (Brazil, informal) money; one real.^[2][1]

Word family

• prataria
• prateação
• prateado
• pratear
• prateira
• prateiro

Related words

• prato
• chato
• Spanish plata

Usage notes

Prata da casa is the resources or people one already has, without outside help.^[2][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. prata
3. ^ a b c d e f 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. prata
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. plata
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. prata
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es
7. ^ 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, 228
8. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. prata
9. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. prata
10. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. prata