ronha

Forms

ronha f (plural ronhas)^[1]

Etymology

In Houaiss and Cunha it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ronea, which Houaiss, Nascentes and Aurélio explain as an alteration of Latin arānea (“spider; mange”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun meant “mange” as well as “spider”.^[6] Corominas sees an undoubted link with the Late Latin word for mange, kept almost unchanged in Galician raña and Romanian râie; the other Romance forms need the altered form, perhaps under the influence of rōbīgō (“rust”) or of some other noun.^[7][8]

Wiktionary and DELPo instead take the word from Spanish roña, first recorded in 1464.^[1][9][8] Bluteau and the old Caldas Aulete derived it from Italian rogna.^[10][11] Nascentes (1955) reviews further proposals: Diez's Latin word for rust, which Meyer-Lübke rejected on phonetic grounds, and García de Diego's aerūgō (“copper rust”), which the DLE follows for the Spanish word.^[12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1609, in the form runha, and the spelling ronha to 1720;^[2][3] Cunha gives the 17th century.^[2][3] The first sense is the mange of sheep and horses.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) describes ronha as a mange of sheep caused by cold and damp, or by the sweat left on their skin when they are not washed after shearing, and also records it for malice in general.^[10] Morais (1789) gives the sheep mange, a figurative “moral vice” and the popular tem muita ronha “he is very sly”.^[14] The word later extended to diseases of plants and to a disease of the saltpans that makes the brine greasy and unable to yield salt.^[2][15] Informal Portuguese uses it for cunning and for laziness, and in Rio Grande do Sul it keeps both the sense “cunning” and the sheep mange.^[16][1][17]

Timeline

• 1609 – first record, spelt runha.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the mange of sheep and derives the word from Italian.^[10]
• 1720 – the spelling ronha.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais records tem muita ronha “he is very sly”.^[14]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records ter muita ronha.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. (veterinary) A mange (sarna) that attacks sheep and horses.^{[2][15][5][1]}
2. A disease of plants, such as the olive knot.^[5][15][1]
3. A disease of saltpans (salinas) that makes the water greasy and unable to yield salt.^[2][15][19]
4. (informal) cunning, slyness, manha: Aquele vendedor tem muita ronha.^[2][5][16]
5. (informal) laziness;^[1][15] fazer ronha, to pretend to work.^[1][15]
6. (informal) A sly, cunning person.^[15]

Word family

• ronhento
• ronhoso

Related words

• Spanish roña
• Italian rogna

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 e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ronha
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ronha
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ronha
5. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ronha
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 593
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 49
8. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. roña
9. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. ronha
10. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. ronha
11. ^ 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. ronha
12. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 448
13. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. roña
14. ^ 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, 356
15. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ronha
16. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8171
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. ronha
18. ^ 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, 333
19. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ronha