sombra

Forms

sombra f (plural sombras)^[1] The 14th century wrote sonbra and ssoonbra, and soombra is found until the 15th;^[1] sombra appears in the 15th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin umbra (“shadow, shade”) at bottom, but the origin of its ⟨s⟩ is disputed; the oldest texts write Old Galician-Portuguese soombra and sonbra.^[2][3][1]

Corominas, whom Houaiss quotes, thinks the ⟨s⟩ comes from sol (“sun”) and its derivatives, since sun and shade are constantly paired; he takes the old variant Old Spanish solombra, current in Leonese, Judaeo-Spanish, Portuguese and Occitan, as proof.^[4][2] Nascentes takes the two vowels of the old form as pointing to Vulgar Latin *sulumbra, from sub (“under”) with illa (“that”) before the noun, and Aurélio and Michaelis follow this.^[5][6][7] The REW and Nascentes's fuller dictionary make the noun a back-formation from a verb, Late Latin subumbrō (“to shade”), which the DHLF says is recorded twice in Late Latin, about 400.^[8][9][10] The DLP derives it from the old variant with ⟨l⟩, perhaps a blend of the Latin words for sun and shade.^[11]

Spanish sombra and Galician sombra have the same ⟨s⟩, beside Mirandese selombra and Asturian solombra, and French sombre “dark” is probably related.^[1][4] The other Romance languages keep the Latin word without it: French ombre, Italian ombra, Catalan ombra and Romanian umbră.^[1][4]

De Vaan connects the Latin noun with Lithuanian ùnksna (“shade”), a link that requires an unusual consonant cluster, and finds no likely root for it.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to the 14th century.^[2] The Crónica Troiana, quoted by Nascentes, has uay-sse deytar en aquela soobra por dormir “he goes to lie down in that shade to sleep”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The dictionaries from Cardoso (1569) on render the word with Latin umbra.^[13][14] Bluteau defines it as the darkness made by an opaque body set against the light, the place the sun does not reach.^[15] Vieira records à sombra “under the protection (of)”.^[16]

The figurative senses are many: a trace or hint (sem sombra de dúvida), a stain on a reputation, the spirit of the dead, a person who follows another everywhere, someone who is a shadow of what they were.^[2][17] The 20th century added the sense of eye shadow.^[2][18] Popular Portuguese uses à sombra for “in jail”.^[18]

The word passed into Indonesian and Ambonese Malay as sombar.^[1]

Timeline

• 14th century – sonbra and ssoonbra.^[2]
• 15th century – the spelling sombra.^[2]
• 1491 – soombra in the Vida de Santo Elói.^[19]
• 1513 – sombra in the Livro dos Mártires.^[20]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it with Latin umbra.^[13]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the shadow cast by an opaque body.^[15]
• 1871 – Vieira derives it from Latin umbra.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. shade: the darker space where an opaque body cuts off the light; a place out of the sun.^[2][6]
2. A shadow cast by a body on a surface.^[2][6]
3. Darkness; night.^[2][6]
4. (art) The darker parts of a drawing or painting.^[2]
5. eye shadow.^[2][18]
6. (figurative) A trace, hint: sem sombra de dúvida.^[2]
7. (figurative) A stain; a blemish on someone's reputation.^[2][17]
8. A person who follows another everywhere.^[2][18]
9. A ghost, the spirit of a dead person.^[2][17]
10. A person or thing that has lost its former greatness.^[2][17]
11. (Portugal, popular) à sombra: in jail.^[18]

Word family

• sombreiro
• sombrinha
• sombrio
• sombrear
• sombreado
• assombrar
• sombrela

Related words

• sombrar
• sol
• Spanish sombra

Usage notes

In Rio Grande do Sul fazer sombra means to rival someone of the same standing, and ter sombra e água fresca to live in comfort.^[21]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. sombra
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. sombra
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 298
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. sombra
6. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. sombra
7. ^ 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. sombra
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8405
9. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 477
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. sombre
11. ^ 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. sombra
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sombra
14. ^ 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. sombra
15. ^ 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. sombra
16. ^ a b 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, 582
17. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. sombra
18. ^ a b c d e Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8614
19. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. soombra
20. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. sombra
21. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. sombra