tapete

Forms

tapete m (plural tapetes)^[1] The oldest form was tapede, still in the 13th century.^[2][3][4] Tapete is recorded from the 14th.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tapēte (“carpet, rug”), written Old Galician-Portuguese tapede and later Old Galician-Portuguese tapete in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Latin also had tapēs and tapētum; all are adaptations of Ancient Greek τάπης (tápēs, “carpet, rug”).^[2][5][1] The DDGM observes that the early form with the voiced consonant did not last, and that the form with /t/ may be the Latin form restored or a foreign one adopted.^[4]

The Greek word is probably a borrowing from an Iranian language, as Nascentes and Aurélio say, following Schrader.^[6][7][8] From its diminutive ταπήτιον (tapḗtion) come French tapis and Old French tapiz, and the Old French word was borrowed as Portuguese tapiz in the 16th century.^[8][3] The Latin word is also Galician tapete and Italian tappeto.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin documents from Galicia already write tapetem in 867 and tapetes in 1105, and a text of 910 has tapede.^[4] In Galician-Portuguese tapede appears in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, and tapete in the Crónica of 1344, a Galician document of 1348 and the Crónica Troiana, where the knights sit down sobre hũ tapete moy fremoso “on a very beautiful carpet”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) gives alcatifa as a synonym and quotes Virgil for the Latin word.^[10] Morais (1789) defines it as a covering for floors, benches and stairs, noting that in the Aeneid it also means a bed cover.^[11] Figurative uses compare grass or flowers covering the ground to a carpet.^[12][13] Modern senses include mats made of rubber or linoleum, the mat of combat sports, and the tapete rolante, a moving walkway.^[2][13] The phrase puxar o tapete “to pull the rug out” means to undermine someone.^[2][13] In Brazilian dialect surveys the word also names the sheepskin put over a saddle.^[14] The word passed into Tetum.^[1]

Timeline

• 867 – tapetem in a Latin document from Galicia.^[4]
• 910 – tapede in a Latin text.^[4]
• 13th century – tapede in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[4][2]
• 1344 – tapete in the Crónica of 1344.^[4]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses Tapete with Latin tapes.^[15]
• 1611 – Barbosa gives alcatifa as a synonym.^[10]
• 1828 – first record of atapetado “carpeted”.^[16]
• 1836 – first record of tapetar.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. A carpet or rug: a heavy woven or embroidered fabric used to cover or decorate floors, stairs and furniture; alcatifa: Estendemos um tapete novo na sala.^[2][7][1]
2. A covering of another material, such as rubber or linoleum (linóleo), used in the same way; a mat.^[2][18]
3. A thick padded mat used in sports such as judo, wrestling and gymnastics.^[18][13]
4. (figurative) Anything that covers an area like a carpet: um tapete de musgo.^[2][7]
5. (biology) A layer of nourishing cells, as in the tapetum of a plant's spore case or of the eye.^[19]

Word family

• atapetar
• atapetado
• tapetar

Related words

• tapiz
• alcatifa
• Latin tapēte
• Galician tapete
• French tapis

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. tapete
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. tapete
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. tapete
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. tapēte
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. 485
7. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. tapete
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. tapis
9. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. tapete
10. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tapete
11. ^ 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, 444
12. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. tapete
13. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. tapete
14. ^ 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. tapete
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tapete
16. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. atapetar
17. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. tapetar
18. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8821
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. tapete