promontório

Forms

promontório m (plural promontórios)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōmontōrium (“headland, promontory”), a variant of prōmunturium.^[2][3][1][4] Nascentes calls it a learned word.^[5]

The origin of the Latin word is not settled: Houaiss derives it from prō- (“forward”) and mōns (“mountain”).^[2] The OLD suggests prōmineō (“to jut out”) with association with the Latin word for mountain, and Lewis & Short also refer it to that verb.^[4][6] Wiktionary finds it unclear: the first part is the prefix, the second usually taken as the word for mountain, with a /u/ from vowel reduction, and the spelling with ⟨-torium⟩ looks later than the one with ⟨-turium⟩.^[1]

In Spanish promontorio is likewise a Latinism;^[7] García de Diego lists popular forms such as tromontorio in Castilian and tresmontorio in Asturian.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is of 1563, and Cunha dates the word to the 16th century.^[2][3] Camões uses it of the Sacro promontório, the Sacred Promontory from which the body of the martyr Vincent was brought to Lisbon, a passage that Vieira quotes;^[8][6] Lewis & Short identify the Latin Promunturium Sacrum in Portugal as Cape St Vincent.^[8][6]

Semantic evolution

Feijó (1734) defines it as the point of land that juts out over the sea, and Vieira labels it a nautical term for a high cape stretching into the sea.^[9][8] The original Caldas Aulete adds two anatomical senses, a small projection in the inner wall of the eardrum and the projection where the sacrum meets the last lumbar vertebra.^[10] Houaiss also has a general sense, any high part or prominence.^[2]

Timeline

• 1563 – first record, according to Houaiss.^[2]
• 1734 – Feijó defines it as a point of land jutting out over the sea.^[9]
• 1824 – a private letter spells it pormontorio.^[11]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira labels it a nautical term and quotes Camões.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The highest part of something; a prominence, elevation, saliência.^[2][12]
2. (anatomy) A small projection on the inner wall of the tympanic cavity.^[2][13][14]
3. (anatomy) The projection formed by the joint of the sacrum with the last lumbar vertebra.^[2][13][15]
4. (geography) A headland or cape of high rocks or cliffs jutting into the sea: Do alto do promontório via-se toda a baía.^[2][16][1]

Related words

• cabo
• Latin prōmunturium
• Spanish promontorio

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. promontório
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. promontório
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prōmunturium
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. promontório
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. promunturium
7. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. promontorium
8. ^ a b c d Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 971
9. ^ a b 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. promontório
10. ^ 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. promontório
11. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. promontório
12. ^ 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. promontório
13. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. promontório
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. promontório
15. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. promontório
16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7518