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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word são

são1 healthy, sound

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1214 spelt sano
Inherited from
Latin sanus
Ultimate origin
Latin sānus
Etymology tree of são1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sānus
French sain
Italian sano
Portuguese são
Spanish sano
English sane
From the same root · são1
Latin īnsānus ← sānus
Latin sānē ← sānus
Latin sānitās ← sānus
Latin sānō ← sānus
Latin vēsānus ← sānus

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈsɐ̃w̃/, [ˈsɐ̃ʊ̯̃][1]
  • Portugal: /ˈsɐ̃w̃/[1]

Forms

são (feminine sã, masculine plural sãos, feminine plural sãs)[1]

Etymology

The word for “healthy, sound” is inherited from Latin sānus (“healthy”), written Old Galician-Portuguese sano in its first record, of 1214.[2][1][3] Medieval texts also write Old Galician-Portuguese sãão and Old Galician-Portuguese sam, and the feminine Old Galician-Portuguese sãa, today sã.[2][4] In the cantigas d'amigo the first form is an archaism beside the usual one.[5]

The same Latin word is Galician san, Spanish sano, Catalan sa, Occitan san, French sain and Italian sano.[6][1][7] The Spanish word is recorded from the 10th-century glosses of San Millán.[8]

The Latin word goes back to *sānos.[9][1] De Vaan reconstructs *seh₂-no-, perhaps from a root “to tie”, and calls the reconstruction purely formal; others derive it from *swā-n- (“healthy, whole”), and Nocentini treats it as an isolate.[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1214, in the form sano.[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria have viv' e são “alive and well” and a nun who ficou sãa “was healed”; the Crónica Troiana also uses são for advice that is sound and wise.[4]

Semantic evolution

The medieval language already used the word for bodily health, recovery from a wound and soundness of judgement.[4] The 14th-century chronicles apply it to things as well: reins that are whole, land that is good.[4] A cantiga d'amigo uses são for what is good for the health.[5] In modern Portuguese it also means mentally balanced, morally upright, and sincere, and as a noun the healthy part of an organism or object.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1214 – first record, as sano.[2]
  • 13th century – são and sãa in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.[4]
  • 1344 – foy logo saão “he was healed at once” in a chronicle of 1344.[4]
  • c. 1400 – first occurrence in the CTA corpus, in a fragment of the Flos Sanctorum.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. healthy, in good health; having no physical defect; sadio.[2][3][1]
  2. Healed, recovered; of a wound, closed.[2][3]
  3. Of sound mind, sane; sensible.[2][1]
  4. Wholesome, good for the health of body or mind.[2]
  5. Unharmed, without injury; ileso: são e salvo “safe and sound”.[2][1]
  6. Without defect; morally upright, honest.[2][11]
  7. True, sincere: sound advice.[2][11]
  8. Not rotten.[11][3]

Noun

  1. A healthy person; the healthy or undamaged part of an organism or object.[2][3][1]

são2 saint

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1200s Cantigas de Santa Maria, spelt san
Ultimate origin
Latin sānctus
Etymology tree of são2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sanciō
Latin sānctus
Aromanian sãmtu
Catalan sant
French saint
Italian santo
Portuguese santo
Portuguese são
Romanian sânt
Spanish santo
From the same root · são2
Latin sānctiō ← sanciō
Italian si ← sānctus
Latin sacrōsānctus ← sānctus
Latin sancte ← sānctus
Latin sānctificō ← sānctus
Latin sānctimōnia ← sānctus
Latin sānctitās ← sānctus
Latin sānctuārium ← sānctus

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈsɐ̃w̃/, [ˈsɐ̃ʊ̯̃][1]
  • Portugal: /ˈsɐ̃w̃/[1]

Forms

são m (plural sãos, feminine sã, feminine plural sãs)[1]

Etymology

The word for “saint” is a clipping from Portuguese santo, used before a name, written Old Galician-Portuguese san and Old Galician-Portuguese sam in the medieval language.[2][1][3][4] Santo itself is from Latin sānctus (“holy, sacred”).[12][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date is 1193, in the form sam.[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria write San Clemente, San Denis and o San Sepulcro.[13] The 14th-century chronicles have Sam Fagũdo beside Santo Fagundo for the same saint.[14]

Semantic evolution

The short form became the rule before names beginning with a consonant (São Paulo, São João), while santo is kept before a vowel.[15][1] Aurélio's first edition of 1975 calls it a syncopated form of santo; the later Aurélio, Houaiss and the DLP an apocopated or reduced one.[16][15][2][3]

Timeline

  • 1193 – first date, spelt sam.[2]
  • 13th century – San Clemente and San Denis in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. saint: the short form of santo used before the name of a male saint beginning with a consonant: São Pedro; abbreviated S[2][15][1]

Usage notes

The phrase são e salvo means “safe and sound”, and são como um pero “sound as a pear” means in perfect health.[1][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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. são
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. são
  4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. são
  5. ^ a b 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. são
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7584
  7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. sanus
  8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 153
  9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. são
  11. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. são
  12. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. santo
  13. ^ a b 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. san
  14. ^ 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. sam
  15. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. são
  16. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1975), Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p. 1294

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“São.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/s%C3%A3o. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·