raio

Forms

raio m (plural raios)^[1] Houaiss lists rraya from the 13th century, raio and rrayo from the 14th, and raiios and rayos from the 15th;^[2][3] Cunha gives rrayo and rayo from the 14th.^[2][3] Bluteau still heads the word raio, ou rayo.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin radius (“rod; spoke; ray of light”), written Old Galician-Portuguese rayo and Old Galician-Portuguese rrayo in the oldest texts.^[2][3][5][1] Aurélio calls it the popular outcome of the Latin word, which is the learned rádio.^[6][1] The same Latin word is Galician raio, Spanish rayo, Catalan raig, French rai, Italian raggio and Romanian rază.^[7][1] From its feminine comes raia “stripe, line”.^[3]

De Vaan finds the origin of the Latin word unknown: a link with rādīx (“root”) is unlikely, as the meanings are too far apart.^[8] Wiktionary mentions proposals that connect it with rāmus (“branch”) or with a PIE root for “bar, beam”, all uncertain.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to the 13th century, in the form rraya.^[2] The 14th-century chronicles already use it for both the ray and the thunderbolt: the Crónica Troiana has vyñã do çeo rrayos ençẽdidos “burning thunderbolts came from the sky”, and the Crónica Geral writes feryo hũu rrayo cerca del “a thunderbolt struck near him” and of a stone shining com̃o rayos muy luzẽtes “like very bright rays” in the sun.^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

The medieval word already meant both a ray of light and a lightning bolt.^[5] Cardoso in 1569 glosses it with Latin fulmen “thunderbolt”, and Bluteau has both senses, a line of light and the “formidable meteor”.^[10][4] Morais in 1789 adds the rays of optics, the radius of a circle, the spokes of a carriage wheel and the figurative use for a person or thing that strikes like lightning.^[11]

Modern Portuguese uses it for any radiation (raios X), for a range measured from a centre (num raio de dez quilómetros), for a calamity and for a glimmer (um raio de esperança).^[2][12] Informally it can mean a very lively child and, in Brazil, something ugly;^[2][13] o raio do… expresses annoyance, and raios! is an exclamation of impatience.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 13th century – the form rraya.^[2]
• 14th century – rrayo in the Crónica Troiana and the Crónica Geral;^[9][5][2] raio and rrayo in Houaiss.^[9][5][2]
• 1431 – raio in the Vida do honrado Infante Josafat (witness 1431–1446).^[14]
• 15th century – the plurals raiios and rayos.^[2]
• 1513 – rayo in the Livro dos Mártires, the date Machado had for the word.^[15][5]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it with Latin fulmen.^[10]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau heads it raio, ou rayo.^[4]
• 1789 – Morais lists the radius of a circle and the spokes of a wheel.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ray or beam of light or other radiation: os raios da lua.^[2][6][1]
2. A lightning bolt, an electric discharge between a cloud and the ground.^[2][16][1]
3. (geometry) The radius of a circle or sphere, and its length.^[2][1]
4. A spoke of a wheel.^[2][1]
5. The distance from a central point; the area within it: num raio de cem metros.^[2][12]
6. (figurative) Something that strikes like a calamity.^[2][16]
7. (figurative) A glimmer, a slight sign: um raio de esperança.^[2][13]
8. (informal) A very lively or mischievous person.^[2][13]
9. (informal) Used before a noun to express annoyance: o raio do carro não pega.^[2]
10. (ichthyology) One of the bony or horny rods that support a fish's fin.^[2][16]

Interjection

1. raios!: an exclamation of annoyance or impatience.^[2]

Word family

• raiar
• raio X

Related words

• rádio
• raia
• radiar
• Latin radius
• Galician raio
• Spanish rayo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. raio
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. raio
4. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. raio
5. ^ 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. rayo
6. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. raio
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6999
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c 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. rrayo
10. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. raio
11. ^ 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, 281
12. ^ 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. raio
13. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. raio
14. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. raio
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. rayo
16. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7743