punhal

Forms

punhal m (plural punhais)^[1] Medieval records have punhar (1364), punhal (1397) and in the 15th century the plurals punhãaes and punhaees and the spelling punhall.^[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2] Machado, as Houaiss reports, thought it most probably borrowed from Spanish puñal, although he also allowed a native formation.^[2] Wiktionary, Priberam, the DLP and Porto Editora also give the Spanish word.^[1][4][5][6] In Spanish the word was first an adjective "as big as a fist" (c. 1250), and the noun (c. 1400) is short for cuchillo puñal (“knife”); it comes from puño (“fist”), from Latin pugnus (“fist”).^[7]

Nascentes, Cunha, Aurélio and Michaelis derive it instead from an adjective Vulgar Latin *pugnale (“held in the fist”), understood with a word for "knife".^{[2][8][3][9][10]} Meyer-Lübke set up the same base for Italian pugnale, Old French poigniel, Catalan punyal and the Spanish word.^[11] The third view, a formation from Portuguese punho + -al, goes back to Adolfo Coelho and is the one of Caldas Aulete's original dictionary and DELPo.^[12][13][14] The oldest Portuguese records use it as an adjective with Old Galician-Portuguese cutello (“knife”).^[15][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology finds the word first in the Crónica of 1344, as an adjective with the noun for "knife": feryansse con os cuytellos punhaaes "they wounded each other with their dagger-knives".^[15] A text of 1364 has hum coitello punhar and a document of 1397 e cutello punhal.^[15][2]

Semantic evolution

From the 16th century the dictionaries treat punhal as a noun, rendering it by Latin pugio and sica;^[16][17][18] Barbosa (1611) also has the diminutive punhalzinho and punhalada "a stab".^[16][17][18] Morais (1789) defines it simply as adaga "dagger".^[19] The figurative sense "anything that wounds or offends deeply" and the phrase pôr o punhal ao peito "to hold a dagger to someone's chest", that is, to force him to do something, are in Caldas Aulete's original dictionary.^[13] In Brazil Schlee records it as a sharp-pointed, single-edged knife with a guard between grip and blade.^[20]

Timeline

• 1344 – cuytellos punhaaes in the Crónica of 1344.^[15]
• 1364 – hum coitello punhar .^[15][2]
• 1397 – cutello punhal.^[15][2]
• 15th century – the plural punhaaes and the spelling punhall.^[3][2]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary renders punhal by Latin pugio.^[16]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists punhalzinho and punhalada.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dagger, a short bladed weapon (arma branca) with a narrow piercing blade, often with a cross-shaped hilt.^[2][9][1]
2. (figurative) Anything that wounds or offends deeply.^[9][4]
3. pôr o punhal ao peito (de alguém), to force someone to do something against his will.^[4][5]
4. (Brazil) A sharp-pointed, single-edged knife with a guard between grip and blade.^[20]

Word family

• apunhalar
• punhalada

Related words

• punho
• Spanish puñal
• Italian pugnale

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 j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. punhal
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. punhal
4. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. punhal
5. ^ a b 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. punhal
6. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7603
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. puño
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. punhal
9. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. punhal
10. ^ 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. punhal
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6812
12. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 423
13. ^ 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. punhal
14. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. punhal
15. ^ 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. punhal
16. ^ a b c Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. punhal
17. ^ a b c Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. punhal
18. ^ 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. punhal
19. ^ 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, 264
20. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. punhal