Etymologically
Log in

rico

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word rico

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1214 in the phrase ríquos omèès 'great nobles' More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Gothic 𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈʁi.ku/, [ˈhi.ku][1]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /ˈʁi.ku/, [ˈχi.ku][1]
  • Portugal: /ˈʁi.ku/[1]

Forms

rico (feminine rica, masculine plural ricos, feminine plural ricas, comparable, comparative mais rico, superlative o mais rico or riquíssimo)[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote rico, riquo, rrico and rrycos;[2][3] Houaiss records rigo in the 15th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Gothic 𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (reiks, “powerful; ruler”), written Old Galician-Portuguese rico and Old Galician-Portuguese riquo in the oldest texts.[2][4][5][1] Houaiss notes that Gothic gave Spanish rico too, while Italian ricco comes from Lombardic rihhi and French riche from Frankish *rīkī; the three Germanic words are alike in form and share the sense “powerful”.[2][6] Galician rico, Catalan ric and Occitan ric are the same word.[1]

The Gothic word is a derivative of Proto-Germanic *rīkijaz (“mighty, powerful”), beside rīce and rīhhi.[1][7] Feist and Wiktionary take it from Proto-Celtic *rīxs (“king”), borrowed before the Germanic sound shift (compare the Gaulish name Dumnorix), and so from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“king, ruler”), the source of Latin rēx.[7][1] English rich is a cognate.[1]

Bluteau reported older explanations, which took it either from a Hebrew word for vanity or from German reich.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's earliest record is the plural phrase ríquos omèès “rich men”, the great nobles of the early kingdom, in 1214.[9] In the 13th century the Cantigas de Santa Maria speak of a lady rica e mui nobre “rich and very noble”, of the rich city of Constantinople and of rich merchants.[3] The word is used both as an adjective and as a noun, “rich man”.[3][10]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval language rico meant rich, but also powerful, noble, splendid and fine: a rico pano was a fine cloth, and work de mui rico lavor finely worked.[3] In the Crónica Geral it means “rich, powerful, noble, excellent, splendid, good”.[3] Nascentes notes that it replaced Latin dīves.[5] He also reports João Ribeiro's explanation: the Germanic invaders of the 5th century formed a nobility of rank and arms, and grew rich.[11]

The figurative senses “abundant in”, “fertile”, “pleasant” and “dear” (meu rico filho) were added later.[2][12][13] In Rio Grande do Sul it can mean “cute”, and Schlee records it for a fighting cock that strikes hard.[1][14] The word passed into Tetum as riku.[1]

Timeline

  • 1214 – ríquos omèès “great nobles”.[9]
  • 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria and the Cancioneiro da Ajuda;[3][4] Cunha also dates requeza “wealth” and enriquecer to this century.[3][4]
  • 1274 – a Latin text has per suos ricos homines “through his great nobles”.[11]
  • 1416 – the Vida de Santo Aleixo.[15]
  • 16th century – first record of ricaço “very rich man”.[4]
  • 1871 – Vieira quotes the Ordenações Afonsinas for the sense “wealthy”.[16]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. rich, wealthy: uma família rica.[2][12][1]
  2. (with em) Abundant in, full of: um solo rico em ferro.[2][17]
  3. sumptuous, splendid, luxurious.[2][12][1]
  4. Precious, valuable.[2][13]
  5. fertile, productive.[2][12]
  6. (figurative) Pleasant, good; tasty.[2][12][13][1]
  7. (figurative) Dear, beloved.[2][13]
  8. (Rio Grande do Sul) Cute.[1]

Noun

  1. A rich person: os ricos e os pobres.[2][18]

Word family

  • enricar
  • enriquecer
  • enriquecimento
  • ricaço
  • riqueza
  • novo-rico
  • rica-dona
  • ricamente
  • rico-homem
  • riquinho

Usage notes

Podre de rico “filthy rich” and rico como Creso “as rich as Croesus” intensify the adjective.[1][13][19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. rico
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. rico
  4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. rico
  5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. rico
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. riche
  7. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 234
  8. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. rico
  9. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. rico-homem
  10. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. rico2
  11. ^ 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. 443
  12. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. rico
  13. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. rico
  14. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. rico
  15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. rico
  16. ^ 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, 297
  17. ^ 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. rico
  18. ^ 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. rico
  19. ^ 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. rico

Related etymologies

  • guai · also from Gothic
  • roupa · also from Gothic
Cite this entry

“Rico.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/rico. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·