senha

Forms

senha f (plural senhas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin signa (“signs, marks”), the neuter plural of the Latin noun for “mark, sign”, taken as a feminine singular.^[2][3][4][5] Houaiss calls it the popular outcome of the Latin word, beside the learned signo and the semi-learned sina.^[2] Wiktionary gives the oldest form as Old Galician-Portuguese senna and counts sino and senho among its doublets too.^[1] Nascentes notes that Cornu derived the word instead from insignia.^[6]

The Latin plural is also the source of Spanish seña, first recorded in the poem of the Cid with the senses “token, proof” and “banner”.^[7][8] The singular lives on in Catalan senya, Occitan senh, Italian segno and Romanian semn.^[9]

Wiktionary traces the Latin noun to Proto-Italic *segnom and derives that from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”) or from *sekʷ- (“to follow”).^[1] The OLD also connects it, with some hesitation, with secō (“to cut”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record in the CTA corpus is a single occurrence in the Livro dos Mártires, in a witness of 1513.^[11] Houaiss's first date is 1664.^[2] Cunha dates to the 17th century the senses “nod, gesture, signal” and “a sign agreed between people so that they can understand each other”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word was above all military: Bluteau lists senha and contrasenha as soldiers' terms for the watchword.^[12] Morais (1789) explains that in fortified places the senha was a word added to the santo, the saint's name given out as the password, so that the enemy would find it harder to deceive the sentries, and he also gives the sense of any agreed signal, such as a whistle or a shot.^[13]

From the agreed sign the word passed to the slips of paper that show a right: a ticket letting a spectator back into a theatre, a receipt, the proof that examination fees were paid, a ration coupon in wartime, and in Portugal a ticket for public transport or for collecting goods sent by rail.^{[2][14][15][16]} A numbered ticket that gives people their turn at a counter is now one of its commonest uses.^[17] With computers it took the sense of the secret string of characters that gives access to a system, “password”.^[2][1][16]

Timeline

• 1513 – a single occurrence in the Livro dos Mártires.^[11]
• 1664 – Houaiss's first date for the word.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists senha and contrasenha as military terms.^[12]
• 1789 – Morais describes the senha added to the santo in fortified places, and the sense of an agreed signal.^[13]
• 1822 – first record in the private letters of the Post Scriptum corpus.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sign, gesture or indication that lets something be understood; a nod or token.^[2][4]
2. A gesture, word or formula agreed in secret beforehand, by which members of a group recognise one another.^[2][4][14]
3. (military) The countersign exchanged between a sentry and whoever approaches the post.^[4][14]
4. A ticket that lets someone back into a theatre or an assembly after leaving it.^[2][14]
5. A receipt or voucher; a document proving that the fees for an examination or other act have been paid.^[2][4][14]
6. A numbered ticket that gives each person their turn to be served: Tirei uma senha e esperei meia hora.^[17]
7. (Portugal) A ticket for public transport;^[16] (railways) a slip for collecting goods.^[16]
8. (computing) A password: a secret sequence of characters that gives access to data, programs or systems.^[2][1][16]

Word family

• contrassenha

Related words

• senho
• sino
• sinal
• Latin signum
• Spanish seña

Usage notes

In Brazil Houaiss also records senha as a popular form of senhora.^[2] Priberam, Michaelis and the old Caldas Aulete have a separate botanical senha, a genus of trees of the Congo.^[14][19][17] In the popular speech of Vila Real and Olivença senha has been recorded with the sense “address”, taken from Spanish.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. senha
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. signo
4. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. senha
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. senha
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 464
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 209
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. seña
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7908
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. signum
11. ^ a b Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. senha
12. ^ 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. senha
13. ^ 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, 390
14. ^ a b c d e f Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. senha
15. ^ 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. senha
16. ^ a b c d e Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8405
17. ^ a b c 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. senha
18. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. senha
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. senha
20. ^ 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. senha