vaca

Forms

vaca f (plural vacas)^[1] Old texts also write uaca and vaqua;^[1] Houaiss records uacas in 1392 and vacas in 1393.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vacca (“cow”), written Old Galician-Portuguese vaca and Old Galician-Portuguese uaca in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1]

The same Latin word is Galician vaca, Spanish vaca, Catalan vaca, French vache, Italian vacca and Romanian vacă.^[5][1]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[1] It has been compared with Sanskrit वशा (vaśā, “cow”), but de Vaan points out that Latin would then need an o-grade, which does not give /a/ in a closed syllable, so the comparison works only if the Italic form somehow acquired its double consonant.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin charters name cows from the 9th century: vacas numero X in 816, VII uacas in 837.^[3] The first Galician-Portuguese records are of the 13th century: in the Cantigas de Santa Maria a woman had lost a cow she loved dearly (hũa vaca perdera que muit' amava).^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts use the word for the animal, in lists with oxen, sheep and horses.^[3] By metonymy it came to mean beef, the meat sold for food.^[2][7] Morais in 1813 records vaca de chocalho, the bell cow that leads wild bulls, and its figurative use for a woman who draws others along.^[8] Card games gave the sense of a stake put up jointly by several players and played by one, and Brazil a collection of money for a shared expense, also called vaquinha.^[2][9] Other Brazilian senses are the 25th group of the jogo do bicho and, in Rio de Janeiro, a fish.^[2] The word is also a sexist insult for a woman.^[2][1]

Kabuverdianu has báka and Papiamentu baka, both from the Portuguese word.^[1]

Timeline

• 816 – vacas numero X in a Latin charter.^[3]
• 1059 – first date of the derivative vaqueiro.^[10]
• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria use vaca.^[3]
• 1392 – uacas in a dated text, and vacas in 1393.^[2]
• 1721 – Bluteau records the diminutive vaquinha.^[11]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses vaca with Latin vacca and bos.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais records vaca de chocalho.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cow, the female of cattle.^[2][7][1]
2. beef, the meat of cattle: bife de vaca.^[2][7][1]
3. (games) A stake put up by two or more players and played by only one.^[2][9]
4. (Brazil, informal) A collection of money for a shared expense; a vaquinha.^[2][7]
5. (Brazil) In the jogo do bicho, the 25th group.^[2]
6. (figurative) A person or thing that is constantly exploited for profit.^[9][13]
7. (offensive) A promiscuous or spiteful woman.^[2][1]

Word family

• avacalhar
• vacaria
• vacum
• vaqueiro
• vaquejada
• vaca-fria
• vaca-marinha
• vaquinha

Related words

• vacina
• Latin vacca
• Spanish vaca

Usage notes

In northern Portugal the word is pronounced with /b/, and the same form is Mirandese baca.^[1] The Brazilian phrase ir a vaca pro brejo “the cow going into the marsh” means to fail.^[2] Nem que a vaca tussa “even if the cow coughs” means “whatever happens”.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. vaca
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. vaca
4. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. vaca
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9109
6. ^ 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 c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. vaca
8. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 823
9. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. vaca
10. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. vaqueiro
11. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. vaquinha
12. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. vaca
13. ^ 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. vaca
14. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9355