saibro

Forms

saibro m (plural saibros)^[1] The oldest form is sabro, recorded in the 14th and 15th centuries;^[2][3] saibro appears in the 16th.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sabulum (“coarse sand, gravel”), written Old Galician-Portuguese sabro in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1] Cunha gives the Latin origin as probable only.^[3]

The same Latin word is Galician saibro, Italian sabbia and French sable.^[5][1] García de Diego adds Old Spanish sable and Asturian sable “coarse sand” and a long series of forms in Galician, among them xabre.^[6] Meyer-Lübke thought that the form Galician jebro, with its initial ⟨j⟩ and its ⟨e⟩, had passed through Arabic.^[5]

The ⟨i⟩ of the word has no agreed explanation: Houaiss says that no reasonable one has been given, and Nascentes calls it an unexplained lengthening of the ⟨a⟩.^[2][4] In his fuller dictionary Nascentes reports that Cortesão saw in it a widening of the ⟨a⟩ found in other popular forms, that Meyer-Lübke thought the word looked as if it came from a form *sabrio, and that Nunes derived it from a form of Latin sabulōsus (“sandy”).^[7]

The Latin word has cognates in Ancient Greek ψάμμος (psámmos) and ἄμαθος (ámathos) and in Germanic words for “sand” such as Old Norse sandr and Old High German sant.^[8][1] The old derivation from Proto-Indo-European *sámh₂-dʰ- is now doubted, and de Vaan takes all these words from a European substrate word.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its first records, of the 14th century, sabro is coarse sand.^[2][3] The Latin–Portuguese dictionaries of the 17th and 18th centuries translate saibro with Latin sabulum and sabulo.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau explains in 1712 that saibro differs from ordinary sand not only by its coarser grain but because it is drier and more barren, and that its round grains make it useful in building.^[11] The modern dictionaries define it as a mixture of clay and coarse sand used for mortar, and in geology as the product of decomposed granite or gneiss in which the texture of the rock can still be seen.^[2][12] In Brazilian technical use it names stone between 2 and 5 millimetres across.^[13][14]

The heraldic sense “sable, black” is recorded in the dictionaries from the 19th century.^[15][2] The old Aulete and the DLP also record saibro as the name of a grape variety.^[13][16] In tennis it is the clay of the court.^[1]

Timeline

• 1300s – first record, spelt sabro.^[2][3]
• 1400s – sabro still recorded.^[3]
• 1500s – first record of the form saibro.^[2][3]
• 1697 – Pereira translates saibro with Latin sabulum and sabulo.^[9]
• 1712 – Bluteau describes it as coarse, dry and barren sand used in building.^[11]
• 1734 – Feijó notes that the word is written with the diphthong ai.^[17]
• 1813 – Morais defines it as coarse, barren sand.^[18]
• 1858 – first record of saibroso.^[3][19]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mixture of clay and coarse sand with small stones, used to make mortar (argamassa) and in building.^{[2][12][20][1]}
2. (geology) Rock decomposed from granite or gneiss that still shows the texture of the original rock.^[2][12]
3. Coarse river sand.^[12][13]
4. (tennis) The clay surface of a court.^[1]
5. (heraldry) sable, the colour black.^[2][21][1]
6. An early white grape variety.^[16][13]

Word family

• saibroso
• saibrar
• saibramento

Related words

• Latin sabulum
• Galician xabre
• Italian sabbia

Usage notes

In some Portuguese dialects saibro is also recorded as a variant of saibo “taste, aftertaste”.^[22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. saibro
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. saibro
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. saibro
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7486
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. sabulum
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. saibro
8. ^ 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
9. ^ 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. saibro
10. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. saibro
11. ^ 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. saibro
12. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. saibro
13. ^ a b c d 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. saibro
14. ^ 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. saibro
15. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. saibro
16. ^ a b 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. saibro
17. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. saibro
18. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 656
19. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. saibroso
20. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8241
21. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. saibro
22. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. saibro