turvo

Forms

turvo (feminine turva, masculine plural turvos, feminine plural turvas)^[1] Cunha records turbio in the 14th century, and Nunes an old turvio.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin turbidus (“troubled, stormy; muddy”), written Old Galician-Portuguese turbio and Old Galician-Portuguese turuo in the manuscripts of the Galician chronicle.^[4][2][3][1] Nascentes, after Nunes, records an older Old Galician-Portuguese turvio, and explains the /u/ of the stressed syllable by the semivowel that followed it.^[5] Houaiss refers to Williams's historical grammar for the sound changes.^[4] The learned doublet is túrbido.^[1]

The Latin adjective is formed turba (“turmoil; crowd”) + -idus.^[6][1] The same Latin word is Spanish turbio and Italian torbido.^[7][8] Lorenzo notes that the Spanish word is recorded from the 13th century.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Galician Crónica Geral tells of hũu Rio que vijna turbio “a river that came down muddy”, where another manuscript writes turuo.^[3] Houaiss dates the word to the 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Lorenzo notes that Morais cites the modern form from the 16th century on, and Cunha dates turvo to that century.^[3][2] Folqman renders it by Latin turbidus, and Bluteau sends the reader to turbado “troubled”.^[9][10] Morais defines it as not transparent, dark, and in 1813 adds “dirty”, with agua turva.^[11][12] The figurative senses of a troubled mind, a gloomy face and confused times are given by Aulete and Houaiss.^[13][4] Priberam adds “drunk”.^[14] The DLP has a phrase for seeking profit from shady dealings or from confusion.^[15]

Timeline

• 14th century – Houaiss's date for the word, and Cunha's for turbio.^[4][2]
• 16th century – turvo.^[2]
• 1755 – Folqman: Turvo, Latin turbidus.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais: “not transparent, dark”.^[11]
• 1813 – Morais adds “dirty” and agua turva.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Moving violently, agitated, turbulent: as águas turvas da enxurrada.^[4][16]
2. Not transparent, with matter in suspension; cloudy, muddy: vinho turvo.^[4][13][1]
3. Covered with clouds or mist, overcast: um céu turvo de inverno.^[4][17]
4. blurred, dim: Via tudo turvo sem os óculos.^[4][15][1]
5. Unsure of oneself or confused by circumstances; troubled.^[4][16]
6. Showing a gloomy state of mind; sullen, frowning: de rosto turvo.^[4][13]
7. Lacking calm or order, confused: anos turvos de guerra civil.^[4][18]
8. (by extension) drunk.^[14]

Noun

1. Lack of clearness or lustre; the same as turvação.^[4][17][15]

Related words

• turvar
• turvação
• túrbido
• Spanish turbio

Usage notes

Lorenzo points out that the Galician turbo given by several dictionaries is not a real word; the ordinary Galician word for “cloudy” is avolto.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. turvo
3. ^ a b c d e f 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. turbio
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. turvo
5. ^ 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. turvo
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. turbidus
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8994
8. ^ 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. turbio
9. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. turvo
10. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. turvo
11. ^ 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, 499
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 818
13. ^ 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. turvo
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. turvo
15. ^ a b c 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. turvo
16. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. turvo
17. ^ 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. turvo
18. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9269