seringa

Forms

seringa f (plural seringas)^[1] xeringa and xiringa are recorded in 1721, and siringa in 1858.^[2] Bluteau also gives ciringa, and Vieira heads the word seringa, ou siringa.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin syringa (“reed pipe; syringe”), from Ancient Greek σῦριγξ (sûrinx, “shepherd's pipe, tube”).^[2][5][6][1] Late Latin had it also in the sense “fistula”, and the medical sense came from the Greek word's use for any narrow tube.^[7][2] Bluteau, quoting Matthaeus Silvaticus, says the apothecaries gave this name to their instrument for injecting liquids.^[3] The learned doublet is siringe.^[1][5]

The same Latin word is Spanish jeringa, Catalan xeringa, Italian siringa and French seringue.^[8][9][7] The Greek word has a suffix that points to Pre-Greek origin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's earliest record, from about 1543, has the sense “Pan pipe”.^[2] Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 already has the medical instrument, rendering it with the Latin for an ear syringe.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) describes it as a pewter tube with a plunger for giving enemas, and mentions syringes for putting out fires and cleaning wounds.^[3] The modern syringe with a needle for injections is its main sense today.^[2][11] At carnival it was a rubber squirt filled with water.^[2][12]

In Amazonia seringa is the latex of the rubber tree: Houaiss, following Pio Corrêa, explains this by the use of the latex to make syringes;^[2][13] Bates wrote in 1848 that the first settlers saw the Indians use rubber in this form.^[2][13] Friederici warns that it is a Portuguese word, not a Tupi one.^[13] From it come seringueira “rubber tree” (1881), seringal and seringueiro (1890).^[5] Informally, seringa is a tiresome person.^[2][14]

Timeline

• c. 1543 – seringa “Pan pipe”.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso lists the instrument.^[10]
• 1720 – Bluteau's entry, the first Houaiss gives for the instrument.^[2]
• 1848 – Bates reports seringa as the Amazonian name for rubber.^[13]
• 1881 – seringueira “rubber tree”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A syringe, a small pump for injecting or drawing off liquid or gas.^[2][11][1]
2. (medicine) A syringe with a needle for injections.^[2][15]
3. A rubber squirt filled with water, used at carnival; bisnaga.^[2][11]
4. (Amazonia) The latex of the rubber trees; the rubber tree.^[2][15]
5. (Mato Grosso) A funnel-shaped pen leading cattle to slaughter.^[2]
6. (informal) A tiresome or odd person.^[2][14][11]

Word family

• seringal
• seringueira
• seringueiro

Related words

• siringe
• Latin syringa
• Spanish jeringa

Usage notes

Wiktionary gives a separate etymology, from Dutch sering, for seringa as the name of the rubber trees;^[1][2][13] Houaiss and Friederici explain that sense from the syringe.^[1][2][13]

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 m n o p q r s Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. seringa
3. ^ 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. seringa
4. ^ 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, 501
5. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. seringa
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. seringa
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. seringue
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8504
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 509
10. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. seringa
11. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. seringa
12. ^ 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. seringa
13. ^ a b c d e f Friederici, Georg (1947), Amerikanistisches Wörterbuch, Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter, p. 566
14. ^ 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. seringa
15. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8436