teixo

Forms

teixo m (plural teixos)^[1] Older texo: Bluteau heads the word teixo, ou texo, Feijó (1734) finds teixo commoner than têxo, and Houaiss records texo in 1789.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin taxus (“yew”).^[4][5][6][1] Houaiss adds that botany took the same Latin word as the name of the yew genus in 1735.^[4]

The same Latin word is Galician teixo, Asturian texu, Spanish tejo, Catalan teix and Italian tasso.^[7][8][1] The Spanish word is recorded from about 1325.^[9]

The Latin word is linked with Ancient Greek τόξον (tóxon, “bow”), since yew was the usual wood for bows; but de Vaan notes that it cannot be borrowed directly from Greek, and suggests either a native formation from Proto-Indo-European *tekʷ- (“to run, flee”), the root Watkins proposed for the Greek word, or a loan from another Indo-European language.^[10] Wiktionary takes it as a loan of Scythian origin.^[1] Bluteau in the 18th century derived it from a Greek word for poisons, because the leaves of the tree are poisonous.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is from the years 1574–1590, already for the tree.^[4] Morais (1789) defines it as a funereal tree and cites it from the Naufrágio de Sepúlveda.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The dictionaries from Pereira (1697) on define it simply as a tree, but the poetic tradition kept the Latin associations of the yew with death: Morais (1789) calls it a funereal, sad tree, and Vieira (1871–1874) adds that it is poisonous.^[12][11][13] Bluteau describes its hard reddish wood and red berries.^[2] Modern dictionaries note its use for hedges, for turnery and as an ornamental tree.^[4][14][15]

Timeline

• 1574–1590 – first record.^[4]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro lists Teixo, arvore.^[12]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the tree under teixo, ou texo.^[2]
• 1734 – Feijó prefers teixo to têxo.^[3]
• 1789 – Morais calls it a funereal tree, and Houaiss records the spelling texo in the same year.^[11][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The yew (Taxus baccata), a slow-growing conifer with needle-like leaves, poisonous seeds and red berries, grown for hedges, for its hard wood and as an ornamental tree.^[4][16][1]
2. Any tree or shrub of the genus Taxus.^[4]

Related words

• taxáceo
• Latin taxus
• Galician teixo
• Spanish tejo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. teixo
3. ^ a b 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. teixo
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. teixo
5. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. teixo
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. teixo
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8607
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. taxus
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. tejo
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c 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, 447
12. ^ 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. teixo
13. ^ 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, 687
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. teixo
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. teixo
16. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. teixo