uva

Forms

uva f (plural uvas)^[1] Houaiss records uuas in the 13th century and huuas and uvas in the 14th.^[2] The Galician translation of the Crónica General writes uuas, uuhas and vuas.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ūva (“bunch of grapes”), written Old Galician-Portuguese uva in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1]

The same Latin word is Galician uva, Spanish uva, Italian uva and Romanian auă.^[5][1]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *oiwā and, with a question mark, a Proto-Indo-European name of a tree with berries;^[6][1] Wiktionary writes it Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw-.^[6][1] The cognates include Ancient Greek ὄα (óa, “sorb tree”) and Old Armenian այգի (aygi, “vineyard”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin charters have the Romance plural uuas in a copy of 1152 (vinea cum uuas) and between 1188 and 1230 (totus homo que uuas furtare de nocte “every man who steals grapes by night”).^[3] Houaiss dates uuas in Portuguese to the 13th century, and a text of 1387 speaks of huvas brancas no nosso lagar “white grapes in our wine-press”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed with the fruit of the vine and its bunches.^[2] Bluteau lists many of the grape varieties grown in Portugal in his day, among them Arinto and Tinta molar.^[7] Many plants with fruits in clusters are called uva de or uva do something: uva-de-cão, uva-espim, uva-do-mato.^[8][9] In Brazilian slang uva became a very attractive woman, and by extension anything very pretty.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1152 – a Latin charter (in a copy) has vinea cum uuas.^[3]
• 13th century – uuas in Portuguese.^[2]
• 14th century – the spellings huuas and uvas.^[2]
• 1387 – huvas brancas in a document.^[3]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists uva azeda and uva moscatel.^[11]
• 1712 – Bluteau names the grape varieties of Portugal.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. grape, the fruit of the videira, a small juicy berry growing in bunches, eaten fresh or dried and used for vinho and vinagre.^[2][12][1]
2. A bunch of grapes; collectively, the grape harvest.^[2][10]
3. Any small fruit like a grape; the name of various plants with such fruits.^[13][1]
4. (Brazil, slang) A very attractive woman.^[2][10]
5. (Brazil, informal) Anything very pretty: Essa casa é uma uva!^[2]
6. A dark purplish red colour.^[1]

Word family

• uva-tinta
• uva-crespa
• uva-de-cão
• uva-espim
• uva-do-mato
• uva-de-urso

Related words

• úvula
• Latin ūva
• Spanish uva

Usage notes

Uva passa is a raisin.^[14] The proverb muita parra e pouca uva “lots of vine leaves and few grapes” is said of someone who talks much and does little, and pôr as uvas em pisa a alguém means to give someone a thrashing.^[14][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. uva
3. ^ 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. uua
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. uva
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9104
6. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ 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. uva
8. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. uva
9. ^ 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. uva
10. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. uva
11. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. uva
12. ^ 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. uva
13. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. uva
14. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9352