roda

Forms

roda f (plural rodas)^[1] Houaiss records rodas in a Latin charter of 1134 and roda and rroda in the 14th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rota (“wheel”), written Old Galician-Portuguese roda and Old Galician-Portuguese rroda in the old texts.^[2][1][3]

The same Latin word is Galician roda, Spanish rueda, Catalan roda, Occitan ròda, French roue, Italian ruota and Romanian roată.^[4][1]

De Vaan derives the Latin word from *rotā and Proto-Indo-European *Hrot- “revolving”, an adjective of *Hret- (“to run, roll”), and compares Lithuanian rãtas (“wheel”), Old High German rad (“wheel”) and Sanskrit रथ (rátha, “chariot”).^[5][1] How the noun was formed from the root is disputed.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears in a Latin charter of 1134 as rodas.^[2] In Galician-Portuguese the Miragres de Santiago speak of the wheel of a cart, ẽna rroda do carro son tres cousas “in the wheel of the cart there are three things”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From the wheel the word was applied to many round or turning things.^[2] Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 has roda da fortuna “the wheel of fortune”, and Bluteau describes the parts of coach and cart wheels.^[7][8] It named the turning hatch at the gate of convents and the roda dos expostos, the foundling wheel of the hospitals and almshouses where infants were left.^[2][1][9]

A ring of people became a social circle (alta roda “high society”), and in Brazil the ring of players in capoeira and the children's ring game.^[2][10] In Portugal a roda is also the lottery drum and the lottery itself.^[2] In Portuguese India roda was a small coin bearing the wheel of Saint Catherine, patron of Goa.^[11] The word passed into Malay, Indonesian and Swahili as roda.^[1]

Timeline

• 1134 – rodas in a Latin charter.^[2]
• 14th century – roda and rroda.^[2]
• c. 1430 – the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437).^[12]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it by Latin rota.^[13]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists roda da fortuna.^[7]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau names the hub, spokes and felloes of a coach wheel.^[8]
• 1844 – a report from Goa describes the roda coin with the wheel of Saint Catherine.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wheel: a round part that turns on an axle, in a vehicle or a machine.^[2][14][1]
2. A round object or shape; a circle, a disc.^[2][14]
3. A round slice of fruit; a rodela.^[2]
4. A round shield.^[2][15]
5. (historical) A revolving hatch at the door of convents and hospitals, and the foundling wheel in which infants were left.^[2][1][9]
6. The width of the hem of a skirt or dress: um vestido com muita roda.^[2][14]
7. (Portugal) The lottery drum; the lottery.^[2]
8. A ring of people; a group, a social circle: Juntou-se à roda de amigos no café.^[2][1][10]
9. (Brazil) The ring of players in capoeira; a children's ring game with songs.^[2]
10. A cartwheel.^[1]

Related words

• rodar
• rodela
• rotar
• Latin rota
• Galician roda
• Spanish rueda

Usage notes

The interjection roda! “clear off!” comes from the imperative of rodar.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. roda
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. roda
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7387
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ 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. roda
7. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. roda
8. ^ 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. roda
9. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8148
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. roda
11. ^ a b Dalgado, Sebastião Rodolfo (1919–1921), Glossário luso-asiático, 2 vols., Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, p. 2, 257
12. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. roda
13. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. roda
14. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. roda
15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. roda
16. ^ 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. roda