resina

Forms

resina f (plural resinas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rēsīna (“resin”), a learned word, as it is in Spanish and Italian.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary instead treats it as inherited, from Old Galician-Portuguese resina.^[1] Corominas notes that the popular outcomes of the Latin word survive in Catalan reïna and in Gascon.^[4]

The Latin word is an adaptation of Ancient Greek ῥητίνη (rhētínē, “pine resin”).^[5][1] Wiktionary takes the Latin form as evidence of a dialectal Greek variant with -s-, and considers the Greek word probably Pre-Greek; the DHLF holds that both Greek and Latin took it from a non-Indo-European language.^[1][6]

The same Latin word is Spanish resina, Italian resina and French résine, and the French word gave resin to English in 1388.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is the form resia, which he dates, with a question mark, to 1223–1279 after Machado;^[2] resina follows in the 14th century and rezina in the 15th.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Pereira (1697) and Folqman (1755) gloss the word with Latin resina.^[7][8] Vieira (1871–1874) treats it as a term of chemistry for the flammable secretion of the pine, the terebinth, the larch and the mastic tree.^[9] The old Caldas Aulete adds the rosin rubbed on the bows of violins and cellos, and a figurative dar resina a alguém “to give someone food for gossip”.^[10] In the 20th century the word extended to synthetic resins used for plastics, paints and varnishes.^[11][12] Informally it means drunkenness in Portugal and a stubborn person in Brazil.^[13][14][15]

Timeline

• 1223–1279 – the form resia, of uncertain date.^[2]
• 14th century – resina; the spelling rezina follows in the 15th.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it with Latin resina.^[7]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira defines it as a term of chemistry.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. resin, a sticky, fragrant substance that runs from the stems of certain plants, especially conifers such as the pine; insoluble in water, it dissolves in alcohol and burns.^{[2][12][11][1]}
2. A product made from it, such as the rosin for the bows of string instruments.^[11][10]
3. (chemistry) A synthetic substance with similar properties, used for plastics, paints and varnishes: resina acrílica.^[11][12][15]
4. (Portugal, slang) drunkenness.^[13][14]
5. (Brazil) A stubborn person.^[15]

Related words

• resinoso
• Latin rēsīna
• Spanish resina

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. resina
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. resina
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 886
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. rēsīna
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. résine
7. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. resina
8. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. resina
9. ^ a b 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, 239
10. ^ 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. resina
11. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. resina
12. ^ a b c 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. resina
13. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8033
14. ^ 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. resina
15. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. resina