relha

Forms

relha f (plural relhas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rēgula (“straight stick, bar; ruler”), through Vulgar Latin *regla.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun is formed from regō (“to direct, rule”) with the diminutive suffix -ula.^[2][5][1] Houaiss and Cunha note that the same Latin word gave regra and régua, which settled in Portuguese with different meanings;^[2][3][6] Nascentes, after Nunes, holds the ploughshare word to be the oldest of the three forms.^[2][3][6] Vieira took it from Old French instead.^[7]

The same Latin word is Spanish reja, Catalan rella, Occitan relha and Old French reille “iron bar”.^[8][9] Corominas points out that in Latin the word meant a bar of metal or wood in general, and that the step to “ploughshare”, the most important iron bar of the farmer, was an easy one; the Spanish word is recorded as Old Spanish relia as early as 974.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the ploughshare sense to 1634, from a work he cites as BPPro, and the iron band of a cart wheel to 1720;^[11][3] Cunha gives the 17th century.^[11][3] Morais (1789) cites a relha do arado, “the iron that opens the earth”, from B. Pereira.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Vieira (1871–1874) adds a plural relhas for the boards that pass through the hub and spokes of a cart wheel and hold them together.^[7] The old Caldas Aulete records that sense for the Minho, a piece of wood set across the boards of a door to keep them from warping, and the rut cut by cart wheels, also called relheira.^[13] Dialect surveys in Trás-os-Montes found it for the cross-pieces of a threshing sledge.^[14]

Timeline

• 1634 – Houaiss's first date for the ploughshare.^[11]
• 1720 – first date for the iron band of an ox-cart wheel.^[11]
• 1789 – Morais: a relha do arado.^[12]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the plural relhas of cart wheels.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ploughshare, the iron part of the plough (arado) that cuts the furrow and turns the soil.^{[11][15][16][1]}
2. An iron strip that reinforces the outside of the wheels of an ox cart.^[11][15][16]
3. (Minho) Each of the wooden cross-pieces that join the parts of a cart wheel through the hub.^[13][15]
4. A piece of wood set across the boards of a door to keep them from warping.^[17][15]
5. The rut left on a road by cart wheels; a relheira.^[13][17]

Word family

• relhar
• relheira
• relho

Related words

• regra
• régua
• Latin rēgula
• Spanish reja

Usage notes

Relha is also the feminine of the adjective relho “stiff, very old”, a separate word that Houaiss explains as a form of revelho.^[18][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. regra
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. relha
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. relha
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. rēgula
6. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 439
7. ^ a b c Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 179
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7177
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. reja
10. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 859
11. ^ a b c d e f Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. relha
12. ^ 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, 316
13. ^ a b c 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. relha
14. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. relha
15. ^ a b c d 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. relha
16. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. relha
17. ^ a b 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. relha
18. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. relho
19. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. relha