truta

Forms

truta f (plural trutas)^[1] The old form truita (13th century) survived in the speech of Guimarães and in Cardoso's dictionary of 1569.^[2][3][4][5] Aulete calls it closer to the etymology but less used.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin tructa (“trout”), written Old Galician-Portuguese truita in the oldest texts.^[2][6][3][1] The reduction of ⟨ui⟩ to ⟨u⟩ is a general tendency of the language, seen also in Old Galician-Portuguese fruita and Old Galician-Portuguese enxuita, now fruta and enxuta.^[2]

The same Latin word is Galician troita, Spanish trucha, Catalan truita, French truite and Italian trota, the Italian word being taken from French according to Meyer-Lübke.^[7][8]

The Latin word is late, found in Isidore and Pliny Valerianus.^[9][10] Cunha, Nascentes and Aurélio derive it from Ancient Greek τρώκτης (trṓktēs, “gnawer, nibbler”), a fish named for its voracity.^{[6][10][11][1]} Houaiss and the DHLF find no connection with that Greek word, which names a different fish.^[2][12] Houaiss takes the Latin word as probably Gaulish, comparing trucantus, and Corominas as a foreign word, probably Celtic.^[2][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word, as truita, to the 13th century, from Cunha.^[2][6] A cantiga d'escarnho of Roi Paez de Ribela begins Ven un ricome das truitas “there comes a nobleman of the trout”.^[14]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) describes the fish of cold, clear streams among rocks.^[15] Informal senses followed: a pretty and elegant girl, an important or clever person, and in Portuguese student slang a very good pupil.^[2][16][17] In Brazil it is criminals' slang for a cellmate or partner in crime, and in Rio de Janeiro a shady deal.^[2][11][5]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record, as truita.^[2][6]
• 15th century – the form truta.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary still has truita.^[4]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau has truta.^[15]
• 1789 – Morais records the proverb não se comem trutas a bragas enxutas.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. A trout, a freshwater fish of the salmon family (genus Salmo): Pescámos duas trutas no ribeiro.^[2][19][1]
2. (informal) A pretty, shapely woman.^[2][16]
3. (informal) An important or clever person;^[2][17] (Portugal, student slang) a very good pupil.^[2][17]
4. (Brazil, slang) A cellmate; a partner in crime; a close friend.^[2][5][1]
5. (Brazil, slang) A shady deal, a swindle.^[2][11][16]

Word family

• trutífero

Related words

• Latin tructa
• Galician troita
• Spanish trucha

Usage notes

The proverb não se pescam trutas a bragas enxutas “trout aren't caught with dry breeches” means that nothing is achieved without effort.^[5][17][18] Morais has it with comem “eat”.^[5][17][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. truta
3. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. truta
4. ^ a b c Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. truita
5. ^ a b c d e f 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. truta
6. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. truta
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8943
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. tructa
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. tructa
10. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. truta
11. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. truta
12. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. truite
13. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 674
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. truita
15. ^ 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. truta
16. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. truta
17. ^ a b c d e Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9240
18. ^ 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, 496
19. ^ 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. truta