torre

Forms

torre f (plural torres)^[1] Houaiss records a 15th-century spelling tore.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin turris (“tower”), written Old Galician-Portuguese torre in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Aurélio starts from a popular Latin *turre, Wiktionary from the classical accusative.^[4][1] The same Latin word is Galician torre, Spanish torre, Catalan torre, French tour and Italian torre.^[5][1]

The Latin word is a loan from Ancient Greek τύρσις (túrsis, “tower, bastion”) or its variant τύρρις (túrrhis).^[6][1] Wiktionary thinks the Greek word probably came from a Mediterranean substrate, and the DHLF mentions the view that the Latin word came from Asia Minor through the Etruscans, whose name, Greek Τυρρηνός (Turrhēnós), has been compared with it.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin charter of 998 already has the Romance word: in illa torre de miranda.^[8] In the Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century a man is shut en hũa torre... en muy gran prijon “in a tower, in a very harsh prison”, and the Crónica Troiana says no wall or tower was so high that it could hold out against the attackers.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The medieval word named the towers of walls and castles and the tower of Babel.^[8] Barbosa in 1611 lists the bell tower, Torre dos sinos.^[9] Vieira (1874) notes that the old fortified towers now served as prisons and armouries, while the new ones were built for bells beside churches.^[10] Later senses include the rook in chess, the armoured turret of warships and tanks, and tall metal structures for oil drilling, power lines and antennas.^[2] In Viana do Castelo it means an attic.^[2]

Timeline

• 998 – a Latin charter has in illa torre de miranda.^[8]
• 1200s – torre in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[8][3]
• c. 1430 – torre in the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437).^[11]
• c. 1539 – first record of the derivative torreão.^[3]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it with Latin turris and arx.^[12]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists Torre dos sinos “bell tower”.^[9]
• 1712 – Bluteau derives the word from Syriac or Hebrew.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tower, a tall fortified building once used for defence; a fortress (fortaleza).^[2][14][1]
2. A bell tower, a campanário.^[2][15]
3. A tall narrow structure standing alone or rising above a building, as a lookout, lighthouse or signal tower.^[2][4]
4. A tall steel or concrete structure, such as an oil derrick or a pylon for cables or antennas.^[2]
5. (chess) The rook.^[2][15][1]
6. (historical) A wooden siege tower moved on wheels.^[2][16]
7. (music) A set of bells, a carrilhão.^[2]
8. A heap of things piled one on another.^[2]
9. (military) The armoured turret of a warship or tank.^[2][15]
10. A very tall building, a skyscraper.^[1]
11. (figurative) A very tall, sturdy person.^[2][17]
12. (Minho) An attic.^[2]

Word family

• torreão

Related words

• Latin turris
• Galician torre

Usage notes

Torre de Babel is the tower of the Bible, and by extension a gathering where everyone speaks and nobody understands.^[2]

Aurélio and Michaelis also list a combining form torre- “to roast”, as in torrefação, from Latin torrere.^[4][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. torre
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. torre
4. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. torre
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9008
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. turris
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. tour
8. ^ a b c d e 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. torre
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. torre
10. ^ 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, 774
11. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. torre
12. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. torre
13. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. torre
14. ^ 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. torre
15. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. torre
16. ^ a b 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. torre
17. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. torre