trapo

Forms

trapo m (plural trapos)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin drappus (“cloth”), which medieval Latin documents also spell trapus.^[2][3][4][1] Houaiss, Cunha, Nascentes and Corominas explain the /t/ of Portuguese and Spanish by the absence of any truly Latin word beginning in ⟨dr⟩; the other Romance languages kept the /d/.^[2][3][4][5]

The same Late Latin word is Spanish trapo, Galician trapo, Catalan drap, Occitan drap, French drap and Italian drappo.^[6][1] It is first found in a Latin translation of Oribasius and in the 6th-century life of Caesarius of Arles, and its earlier origin is disputed.^[6][1] Houaiss, Cunha, Nascentes and the REW think it probably Celtic (Gaulish); Corominas calls it an Indo-European word of the pre-Latin languages of the West rather than Celtic;^{[2][3][6][7][1]} Wiktionary derives it from *drapi (“that which is fulled”), from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to beat, crush”).^{[2][3][6][7][1]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is the diminutive trapozinhos “little rags” in a 15th-century text of Cunha's medieval index.^[2] The agent noun trapeyro, a seller of cloth, is already recorded in the 14th century, and Vieira notes that the word once meant simply “cloth”, a sense preserved in that derivative.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

By the 16th century the word meant a piece of worn cloth: the Livro dos Mártires of 1513 uses it, and Cardoso, Barbosa and Pereira translate it with Latin pannus and panniculus.^{[9][10][11][12]} Bluteau defines it as a dirty old scrap of cloth and collects proverbs with it, such as a pequeno mal, grande trapo.^[13] Morais adds the figurative “old garment” and the phrase língua de trapos for someone who speaks badly.^[14][15]

Later dictionaries record the sediment of old wine that comes away in rag-like flakes and, figuratively, a worn-out, exhausted or spineless person.^[16][2] Brazilian Portuguese has a todo o trapo “at full speed” in Rio Grande do Sul, and juntar os trapos “to move in together, to marry” is colloquial.^[2][17][18]

Timeline

• 14th century – the derivative trapeyro “cloth seller”.^[3]
• 15th century – the diminutive trapozinhos.^[2]
• 1513 – trapo in the Livro dos Mártires.^[9]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates trapo as Latin pannus.^[10]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists proverbs with the word.^[13]
• 1789 – Morais records língua de trapos.^[14]
• 1813 – the date Cunha gives for the noun, from the second edition of Morais.^[3]
• 1871 – Vieira calls the sense “cloth” obsolete.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rag: a piece of old or worn cloth.^[2][19][1]
2. An old, shabby piece of clothing;^[2][18] (in the plural) one's clothes.^[2][18]
3. A rag-like sediment in wine, vinegar and other liquids.^[2][20]
4. (figurative) A person who is worn out, aged or broken by illness or trouble.^[2][19]
5. (figurative) A weak or cowardly person.^[2][16]
6. (botany) A wild shrub of the spindle family, Evonymus agglomeratus.^[19][21]

Word family

• atrapalhar
• trapeiro

Related words

• drapear
• Spanish trapo
• French drap

Usage notes

Pegar-lhe com um trapo quente means to try to remedy what cannot be remedied, and dizer trapos e farrapos to gossip maliciously.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. trapo
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. trapo
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. trapo
5. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. trapo
6. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. drappus
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 604
8. ^ 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, 795
9. ^ a b Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. trapo
10. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. trapo
11. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. trapo
12. ^ 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. trapo
13. ^ 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. trapo
14. ^ 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, 484
15. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 799
16. ^ a b 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. trapo
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. trapo
18. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9131
19. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. trapo
20. ^ 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. trapo
21. ^ 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. trapo