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raiva

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word raiva

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1200s Cantigas de Santa Maria, spelt ravia More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin rabia
Ultimate origin
Latin rabiēs

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈʁaj.vɐ/, [ˈhaɪ̯.vɐ][1]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /ˈʁaj.vɐ/, [ˈχaɪ̯.vɐ][1]
  • Portugal: /ˈʁaj.vɐ/[1]
  • Northern, Portugal: /ˈʁaj.bɐ/, [ˈʁaj.βɐ][1]

Forms

raiva f (plural raivas)[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote ravia in the 13th century, rrauea and rrauya in the 14th;[2] raiva and rajua appear in the 15th.[3][4] A letter of 1654 writes raiba.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin rabia, the spoken form of rabiēs (“rage, madness; rabies”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ravia in the oldest texts.[3][4][1] The Latin noun is formed from rabiō (“to rave”) with the suffix -iēs.[1]

The same Latin word is Galician rabia, Spanish rabia, Catalan ràbia, Occitan ràbia, French rage and Italian rabbia.[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology gives the Cantigas de Santa Maria as the first record: con gran ravia “with great fury” and coidava morrer de ravia “he thought he would die of rage”.[6] The first sense is thus the violent passion.[6]

Semantic evolution

The disease of dogs appears in the 14th century: the Galician-Portuguese Crónica de 1344 has a dog cõ rrayua that bites its master.[6] Bluteau (1712) describes rabies at length, as a disease of dogs passed on by a bite.[7] Morais (1789) gives the disease, great anger, and raivas, little cakes of flour, butter, eggs and sugar.[8]

Modern senses extend the fury to hatred and aversion, to a violent appetite or desire, and to the itching of children's gums when teething.[3][9] Priberam records an old sense, “disgrace, stain on one's name”.[10]

Timeline

  • 13th century – ravia in the Cantigas de Santa Maria;[2] raivoso and rauiar are as old.[6][4]
  • 1344 – the Crónica de 1344 has rrayua for rabies in a dog.[6]
  • 15th century – the spelling raiva.[3]
  • 1654 – raiba in a private letter.[2]
  • 1712 – Bluteau describes the disease.[7]
  • 1789 – Morais records raivas for small cakes.[8]
  • 1813 – first record of enraivecer.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. rabies, a viral disease of the nervous system passed to humans by the bite of an infected animal.[3][11][1]
  2. A fit of fury; violent anger: gritava de raiva.[3][12][1]
  3. Irritation, resentment or frustration.[3]
  4. Strong aversion: ter raiva de alguém.[3][11]
  5. A strong appetite; a violent desire.[3][9]
  6. A strong passion of love.[3][9]
  7. The itching of the gums of teething children.[3][10]
  8. (Portugal, cooking) A crisp biscuit of flour, butter, eggs and sugar, shaped in curls.[3][10]

Word family

  • raivar
  • raivoso
  • raivinha
  • enraivecer
  • enraivecido

Usage notes

Fazer raiva means to make someone angry, or to make them envious.[3]

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 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. raiva
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. raiva
  4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. raiva
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. rabies
  6. ^ a b c d e 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. raiva
  7. ^ 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. raiva
  8. ^ 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, 282
  9. ^ a b c 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. raiva
  10. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. raiva
  11. ^ 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. raiva
  12. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7744

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Raiva.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/raiva. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·