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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word terno

Portuguese has two words spelled terno: the adjective “tender”, inherited from Latin, and the noun “set of three”, taken from Latin.[1][2] Houaiss numbers the adjective first and the noun second, Cunha the other way round.[3][4][2]

terno1 tender

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1300s
Inherited from
Latin tener
Ultimate origin
Latin tener
Etymology tree of terno1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tener
Catalan tendre
French tendre
Italian tenero
Old French tendre
English tend
English tender
Portuguese tenro
Portuguese terno
Spanish tierno
From the same root · terno1
French tendresse ← tendre
English bartender ← tender

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈtɛʁ.nu/, [ˈtɛɦ.nu][5]
  • São-Paulo: /ˈtɛɾ.nu/[5]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /ˈtɛʁ.nu/[5]
  • Caipira: /ˈtɛɻ.nu/[5]

Forms

terno (feminine terna, masculine plural ternos, feminine plural ternas)[5]

Etymology

The word for “tender” is inherited from Latin tener (“soft, delicate, tender”), from its accusative form, with metathesis, as in the Spanish word.[1][6][5] Its doublet is tenro, from the same Latin word.[5][4] It corresponds to Spanish tierno, Catalan tendre, French tendre and Italian tenero; in Romanian tânăr means “young”.[7][5][8]

The origin of the Latin adjective is disputed.[5] One view links it to *ten- (“to stretch”); the other, followed by the OLD, sees in it a Sabine form and compares τέρην (térēn, “soft, tender”).[5][9]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the adjective to the 14th century.[1] Morais (1789) defines it as “soft-hearted, compassionate”, and in 1813 adds that the classical writers said tenro for it.[10][11] The modern word is used of feelings and of the voice, and in painting of a soft colour.[1][12]

Timeline

  • 14th century – Houaiss's first date.[1]
  • 16th century – first record of the derivative enternecer.[2]
  • 1789 – Morais defines terno “soft-hearted, compassionate”.[10]
  • 1813 – Morais notes that the classical authors said tenro; first record of ternura.[11][2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. affectionate, loving, gentle with others: uma avó terna.[1][13][5]
  2. Showing or expressing affection: Disse-lhe palavras ternas.[1][13]
  3. Soft, mild, delicate: uma voz terna.[1][14][5]
  4. Moving to pity, plaintive: ternos queixumes.[1][14]
  5. (painting) Of a colour, soft and delicate.[12]

Word family

  • ternura
  • enternecer
  • enternecimento

terno2 set of three; suit

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1609
Borrowed from
Latin ternus
Ultimate origin
Latin ter
Etymology tree of terno2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin ter
Latin ternus
Portuguese terno

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈtɛʁ.nu/, [ˈtɛɦ.nu][5]
  • São-Paulo: /ˈtɛɾ.nu/[5]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /ˈtɛʁ.nu/[5]
  • Caipira: /ˈtɛɻ.nu/[5]

Forms

terno m (plural ternos)[5]

Etymology

The word for “set of three” is borrowed from Latin ternus (“three each”), usually in the plural terni, a distributive numeral.[1][13][5] The Latin adjective is formed from ter (“three times”) with the suffix -nus.[5] It corresponds to Spanish terno, Catalan tern, Italian terno and French terne.[7][15]

Houaiss reports Corominas's observation that the Brazilian sense “suit” has a parallel in Logudorese Sardinian ternu, the vestment of the priest at a high mass.[1] Nascentes explains the Brazilian word as a set of three pieces of clothing: jacket, waistcoat and trousers.[16]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the noun to 1609.[1] Bluteau defines it simply as “three”: a terno de missas is three Christmas masses and a terno de charamelas three shawms.[17] The card or die face with three pips is recorded from 1721, and Vieira gives ternos at dice, a throw of two threes.[1][18]

In Brazil the set of three pieces became the man's suit, and by extension a woman's trouser suit (terninho).[1][14][19] Brazilian and Portuguese regional senses include a cock and two hens, a team of three cowhands, a group of folk singers, and in Madeira a glass holding a third of a bottle and a wine shop.[1][6][19] In Trás-os-Montes a terno is a plot of land.[13]

Timeline

  • 1609 – Houaiss's first date.[1]
  • 1697 – Pereira renders Terno by Latin tertius.[20]
  • 1721 – the sense of a card or die face with three pips;[1][17] Bluteau's terno de missas.[1][17]
  • 1871 – Vieira defines it as a set that needs three similar things to be complete.[18]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A set of three people or things of the same kind; a trio.[1][13][5]
  2. (games) A playing card, die face or domino with three pips; in lotto, the number three.[1][13][5]
  3. (Brazil) A man's suit of jacket, trousers and sometimes waistcoat of the same cloth: Vestiu o terno azul para o casamento.[1][14][5]
  4. (Brazil) A cock and two hens kept together.[1][12]
  5. (southern Brazil) A team of three cowhands who brand the cattle; the yokes of oxen of a cart.[1][19]
  6. (folklore) A group of singers or dancers in a popular festivity.[6][19]
  7. (Portugal, regional) A gang of farm workers under a foreman; in Trás-os-Montes, a plot of land.[1][13]
  8. (Madeira) A glass holding a third of a bottle; a small wine shop.[1]

Word family

  • terninho

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. terno
  2. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. terno
  3. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ternura
  4. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. tenro
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. terno
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 487
  9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. tener
  10. ^ 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, 454
  11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 769
  12. ^ 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. terno
  13. ^ a b c d e f g 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. terno
  14. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. terno
  15. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. terno
  16. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 492
  17. ^ 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. terno
  18. ^ 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, 709
  19. ^ a b c d Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. terno
  20. ^ 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. terno

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Terno.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/terno. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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