varão

varão¹ man, male

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /vaˈɾɐ̃w̃/, [vaˈɾɐ̃ʊ̯̃]^[1]
• Portugal: /vɐˈɾɐ̃w̃/^[1]
• Northern, Portugal: /bɐˈɾɐ̃w̃/^[1]

Forms

varão m (plural varões, feminine varoa or virago, feminine plural varoas or viragos)^[1] Houaiss records varões in the 13th century and varão, uarom and varã in the 15th.^[2] Cunha has uaron in the 13th century.^[3]

Etymology

The word for a man is inherited from Latin barō (“man, free man”), written Old Galician-Portuguese varon and Old Galician-Portuguese uaron in the oldest texts.^[1][3][4] The REW, Cunha and Wiktionary take it as the same word as barão “baron”.^[5][3][1]

Houaiss traces both to Proto-Germanic *baro (“free man”), brought into the Roman world by Germanic mercenaries and recorded in Latin also as varō, with the sense of vir (“man”).^[6] He holds that the two Portuguese forms continue Old French baron, whose senses ran from “royal officer” and “great lord” to “man, brave man”, and that they then diverged, the form with v- keeping the man of courage and strength, the form with b- the man of title and land.^[6] Cunha notes that the alternation of b- and v- runs through the whole family without always meaning the same thing.^[3] The DLP and the DLE derive the word from the Latin form with v-, which they gloss “strong man”.^[7][8] Corominas, for Spanish, regards the sense “male person” as a generalisation of the noble title, both spellings being found from the beginning, with the distinction of spelling only from the 16th century.^[9] The DCECH calls the Germanic origin probable.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria address their hearers as Varões, oviad'oviade “Men, hearken, hearken”.^[4] In a cantiga d'escarnho Estevan da Guarda uses varon for a lord: ja que se vai o ricome, / varon, vaa-s'en ora boa “since the nobleman is leaving, let the lord go, and good riddance”.^[4][11]

Semantic evolution

Cardoso (1569) and Barbosa (1611) render the word by Latin vir.^[12][13] Barbosa adds varonilmente and cousa de varão “a manly thing”.^[13] Bluteau adds the sense “male”, as in filho varão, and says that varão esforçado, illustre may mean the same as “hero”.^[14] Morais (1789) gives “man”, “husband”, “iron rod”, “male child” and “brave man”, quoting Arrais.^[15] Houaiss dates the adjective “male” to 1899.^[2]

Aurélio records varão de Plutarco for an upright man of great service to his country, worthy of Plutarch's Lives.^[16] In popular use the word also means a husband who does not let his wife rule him.^[7][17] In Vila Real and Olivença it is used for a son, as Spanish uses its word.^[18]

Timeline

• 13th century – varões in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2][4]
• 1380–1425 – varões in a Flos Sanctorum fragment of Santiago de Compostela.^[19]
• 15th century – varão, uarom and varã.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it by vir.^[12]
• 1611 – Barbosa adds varonilmente.^[13]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records proverbs and the sense “male”.^[14]
• 1789 – Morais: “man, husband, male child, brave man”.^[15]
• 1899 – the adjective “male”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person of the male sex, a man.^[2][16][1]
2. A man who has reached adulthood: Aos vinte anos era já um varão.^[2][17]
3. A brave, strong, manly man.^[2][7]
4. A man worthy of respect, venerable or illustrious.^[2][16]
5. (popular) A husband who does not let his wife rule him.^[7][20]

Adjective

1. male: Teve dois filhos varões.^[2][16][1]

Word family

• varoa
• varonil
• varonia

varão² rod, rail

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /vaˈɾɐ̃w̃/, [vaˈɾɐ̃ʊ̯̃]^[1]
• Portugal: /vɐˈɾɐ̃w̃/^[1]
• Northern, Portugal: /bɐˈɾɐ̃w̃/^[1]

Forms

varão m (plural varões)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a large rod is formed from Portuguese vara + -ão, with the augmentative suffix.^{[2][1][21][7]} Feijó already separated it in 1734 from the word for a man, deriving it from the Portuguese noun for a stick.^[22] The base noun is from Latin vāra (“forked pole that holds up a net”).^[23][24]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bluteau has Varão de ferro, rendered by Latin vectis “bar, lever”.^[14] Houaiss dates the word to this volume, of 1721.^[2] Morais (1789) lists “iron rod” among the senses of the same headword.^[15]

Semantic evolution

Feijó distinguishes a varão de pâo from one of iron.^[22] The DLP adds the steel bar of reinforced concrete and the rod over a door or window for curtains.^[7] Houaiss adds the bars of a prison or a cage.^[2] In north-eastern Brazil the word names the crossbar of a bicycle frame (Piauí) and the cross-shaped metal frame of the standard of a frevo club (Pernambuco).^[25] Dialect surveys record it for the metal rod of a farm implement in Portugal and for a bird trap in Brazil.^[18]

Timeline

• 1721 – Bluteau: Varão de ferro.^[14][2]
• 1734 – Feijó separates this word from varão “man”.^[22]
• 1789 – Morais: “iron rod”.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large rod, usually of iron or another metal: Trancou o portão com um varão de ferro.^[2][16]
2. A grating, the bars of a prison or a cage.^[2]
3. (construction) A round steel bar used in betão armado, reinforced concrete.^[7]
4. A rail or rod over a door or window, for hanging curtains.^[7][20][1]
5. (Brazil, Piauí) The crossbar of a bicycle frame.^[25]