trom

Forms

trom m (plural trons)^[1] Houaiss records trõo in the 13th century, trrõo in the 14th and troom in the 15th.^[2] Cunha has the plural troos in the 15th century.^[3]

Etymology

Houaiss, following Nascentes, takes it as an imitation of the boom of the cannon and of thunder.^[2][4] Aurélio and the Porto dictionary also call it onomatopoeic.^[5][6] Cunha agrees, but adds that it is surely connected with troar “to boom”, which he derives from Latin tonō (“to thunder”) influenced by tonitrus (“thunder”).^[3] Wiktionary derives it either from the medieval verb Old Galician-Portuguese trõar, or from tonus (“sound, tone”) through a form *tronus influenced by the word for thunder.^[1]

Bluteau already thought it came from the Latin word for thunder.^[7] Wiktionary compares Galician trono, Spanish trueno, Catalan tro and Occitan tron.^[1] The DCECH explains the /r/ of Spanish tronar by the old popular word for thunder, a metathesis of the Latin noun.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Crónica Troiana has troo in the sense “thunder”.^[9] Houaiss dates trõo to the 13th century; in the Cantigas de Santa Maria the same spelling trõo writes the word for “throne” (con Deus see no trõo).^[2][10] Cunha's first record, of the 15th century, already has the sense “sound of a cannon”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Viterbo explains the old word as “thunder”, and says that the writers of the past also gave this name to the shot of a piece of artillery, which imitates it.^[11] Bluteau defines it as the shot or roar of artillery and quotes Barros's Décadas on os Trons das bombardas and the chronicle of King João I, where the trom of the Castilians shows that they had artillery.^[7] From the sound the name passed to the earliest cannon, and Vieira also uses it for an ancient engine of war that threw stones.^[12][2]

In the 19th century the word became poetic: Aulete quotes Castro Alves on o trom da guerra, and Aurélio Raimundo Correia's Trons festivais.^[13][5] A Galician inventory from Rianxo uses trono for an old piece of artillery.^[14]

Timeline

• 13th century – trõo (Houaiss).^[2]
• 14th century – trrõo (Houaiss).^[2]
• 15th century – troom, and the plural troos for the sound of cannon.^[2][3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau quotes Barros's os Trons das bombardas.^[7]
• 1798–1799 – Viterbo's Elucidário explains the word as “thunder” and “artillery shot”.^[11]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the stone-throwing engine.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) An engine of war like a catapult, used to hurl stones.^[2][15]
2. (archaic) An early cannon.^[2][6]
3. The boom of a cannon or of any piece of artillery: Ouviu-se ao longe o trom dos canhões.^[2][16]
4. By extension, a great noise, a din.^[2][6]
5. thunder; the same as trovão.^[2][16]

Related words

• troar
• atroar
• trovão
• Galician trono

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. trom
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. trom
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. trom
5. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. trom
6. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9222
7. ^ 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. trom
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 659
9. ^ 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. troo
10. ^ 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. trõo
11. ^ a b Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 391
12. ^ 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, 831
13. ^ 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. trom
14. ^ 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. trono
15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. trom
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. trom