Portuguese words from Greek
73 Portuguese words with Greek in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
adega
It is inherited from Latin apothēca (“storehouse, store for wine”), which is from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “storehouse”). The Greek noun is from ἀποτίθημι (apotíthēmi, “to put away”), from…
agora
It is inherited from Latin hāc hōrā (“at this hour”), written Old Galician-Portuguese agora in the oldest texts. The Latin phrase is the ablative of haec hōra. Cornu derived it instead from ad…
amêndoa
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *amyndula, a popular form of Latin amygdala (“almond”), which is from Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē, “almond”). Machado notes that the vulgar form is recorded in…
anão
It is inherited from Latin nānus (“dwarf”), with a prothetic ⟨a-⟩, first written Old Galician-Portuguese naão. Nascentes and the first Aurélio call the ⟨a-⟩ a late addition. Vieira (1871) explained…
anjo
It is inherited from Late Latin angelus (“messenger of God, angel”), written Old Galician-Portuguese angeo in the oldest texts, and the Latin word is from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos…
ar
It is inherited from Latin āēr (“air”), which is from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr, “mist; air”). The oldest texts write Old Galician-Portuguese aire, Old Galician-Portuguese aere and Old…
argila
It is borrowed from Latin argilla (“potter's clay”), which is from Ancient Greek ἄργιλλος (árgillos, “white clay, potter's earth”). The 15th-century form Old Galician-Portuguese arzila has a ⟨z⟩…
arruda
It is inherited from Latin rūta (“rue”), with an initial vowel that most sources explain as the definite article a grown onto the noun. Aurélio instead derives it from Latin through Arabic, whose…
austeridade
It is borrowed from Latin austēritās, meaning both “sourness” and “severity”. Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word. The Latin noun is formed from austērus (“sour; severe”) with the suffix -tās…
austero
It is borrowed from Latin austērus (“harsh, sour; severe”), a learned word. The Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek αὐστηρός (austērós), which was said of a harsh, dry or bitter taste, of water…
base
It is borrowed from Latin basis (“base, pedestal”), a learned word, which is from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis, “a stepping; step, foot; base, pedestal”). Nascentes and Aurélio give the Greek sense as…
bispo
It is inherited from Latin episcopus (“overseer; bishop”), written Old Galician-Portuguese bispo in the oldest texts. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer…
braço
It is inherited from Latin bracchium (“arm”), also spelt brāchium, written Old Galician-Portuguese braço in the oldest texts. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “arm”). This…
cada
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin cata (“each, by”), which is from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “down; along; according to”). The Greek preposition was used in phrases with a distributive sense, such…
canal
It is inherited from Latin canālis (“pipe, channel”), written Old Galician-Portuguese canal in the oldest texts, with a variant Old Galician-Portuguese caal from 1348. Wiktionary suggests that the…
canapé
It is borrowed from French canapé. The French word, recorded from 1648 for a long seat with a back for several people, is an altered form of the older Old French conopé (“bed curtain”) (about 1180)…
cansar
It is probably inherited from Latin campsō (“to sail round, to double a cape”), a word of the language of sailors. The Latin verb is from Ancient Greek κάμψαι (kámpsai), the aorist of κάμπτω…
carta
It is inherited from Latin charta (“papyrus leaf; paper”), written Old Galician-Portuguese carta in the oldest texts. The Latin word, also spelt carta, is from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs…
centauro
It is borrowed from Latin centaurus (“centaur”), which is from Ancient Greek κένταυρος (kéntauros). The Greek word was first the name of a savage people living between Pelion and Ossa in Thessaly…
centro
It is borrowed from Latin centrum (“the fixed leg of a pair of compasses; centre of a circle”), which is from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “goad, sharp point; centre of a circle”). The Latin word…
chato
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *plattus (“flat, flattened”), a popular adaptation, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “broad, flat”). Cunha dates it to the 16th century, and Houaiss to 1650. The…
cima
It is inherited from Latin cȳma (“young shoot of a cabbage”), written Old Galician-Portuguese cima in the oldest texts. In Vulgar Latin the word came to mean the part that stands out at the top of…
coentro
It is inherited from Latin coriandrum (“coriander”), in a popular development, probably through the dissimilated form coliandrum. Houaiss reconstructs the steps *colandro, *coandro and then coendro…
conto
1. The word for the tale is inherited from Latin computus (“calculation, reckoning”), written Old Galician-Portuguese conto in the oldest texts. Houaiss explains that the Latin verb behind it, “to…
corda
It is inherited from Latin chorda (“gut; string of a musical instrument; rope”), from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “guts, tripe; string of gut”). Latin took the word first as a technical term for…
coroa
It is inherited from Latin corōna (“wreath, garland, crown”), written Old Galician-Portuguese corõa in the oldest texts. The Latin -n- between vowels was lost, leaving the nasal vowel of the old…
couve
It is inherited from Latin caulis (“stalk, stem; cabbage”), which is from Ancient Greek καυλός (kaulós, “stem, stalk”). Nascentes traces the Portuguese form through *coule and *coue, with the…
diabo
It is inherited from Late Latin diabolus (“devil”), the word of the Church, which is from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “slanderer; one who sets apart”). Wiktionary considers it a semi-learned…
diamante
Wiktionary takes it as borrowed from Late Latin diamas (“diamond”). Houaiss, Aurélio and the DLP call the Latin source a Vulgar Latin form, and DELPo thinks the word came through French. The Latin…
dogmático
It is borrowed from Latin dogmaticus (“relating to the doctrines of the philosophers”), which is from Ancient Greek δογματικός (dogmatikós, “doctrinal, founded on principles”). Houaiss presents it…
dragão
It is inherited from Latin dracō (“dragon, serpent”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dragon in the oldest texts. Houaiss and Wiktionary derive it from the oblique stem of the Latin noun (the…
escandaloso
Houaiss makes it borrowed from Latin scandalōsus (“scandalous, abominable”), as do Aurélio, the DLP and Figueiredo, and Nascentes calls it semi-learned. Wiktionary, Silva Bastos and Vieira instead…
escola
It is inherited from Latin schola (“lecture; school”), written Old Galician-Portuguese escola in the oldest texts. It is a popular word, but its form is semi-learned: Nascentes points to the -l-…
espada
It is inherited from Latin spatha (“broad flat blade; broadsword”), written Old Galician-Portuguese espada in the oldest texts, with a vowel put before the initial s-. The Latin word, which also…
estômago
It is inherited from Latin stomachus (“gullet; stomach; anger”), first recorded in the 14th century as Old Galician-Portuguese estamago. Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word and names bucho as the…
fantasma
It is borrowed from Latin phantasma (“apparition, ghost”), first recorded in the 14th century. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “apparition, vision, image”), from φαντάζω…
gesso
It is inherited from Latin gypsum (“gypsum, plaster”), which is from Ancient Greek γύψος (gúpsos, “gypsum, chalk, cement”). Nascentes notes that Lokotsch allowed for Arabic influence and considered…
girar
It is borrowed from Latin gȳrō (“to make go round; to turn in a circle”), a learned word. Meyer-Lübke sees it as a Catalan word taken into Spanish and Portuguese. Silva Bastos and Figueiredo derive…
golpe
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *colpus (“blow”), first written Old Galician-Portuguese colbe and Old Galician-Portuguese colpe, then Old Galician-Portuguese golpe. The Vulgar Latin form, which Du…
grego
It is inherited from Latin Graecus (“Greek”), written Old Galician-Portuguese grego in the oldest texts. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek Γραικός (Graikós), an old name of the Hellenes…
hora
It is inherited from Latin hōra (“hour; time, season”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ora in the oldest texts. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “season, time of day, hour”), as…
jaspe
It is borrowed from Latin iaspis (“jasper, a green precious stone”), which is from Ancient Greek ἴασπις (íaspis). Houaiss notes that it continues the Latin nominative; the oldest form is Old…
judeu
It is borrowed from Latin iūdaeus (“Jew, Judaean”), written Old Galician-Portuguese judeu in the oldest texts. Nascentes calls it a learned word, and the DCECH finds the learned character of the…
lastimar
It is inherited from Late Latin blastēmō, an altered form of blasphēmō (“to revile, blaspheme”), which is from Ancient Greek βλασφημέω (blasphēméō, “to speak profanely, slander”). Corominas explains…
leão
It is inherited from Latin leō (“lion”), written Old Galician-Portuguese leon in the oldest texts. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), an old borrowing. The same Latin word is Galician…
madeixa
It is inherited from Latin mataxa (“rough thread, tow”), a word also spelt metaxa. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek μέταξα (métaxa, “raw silk”), itself of unknown origin. The same Latin word is…
magia
It is borrowed from Late Latin magīa (“magic, sorcery”), which is from Ancient Greek μαγεία (mageía, “the lore of the Magi; magic”). Nascentes calls it a learned word. The Greek noun is formed from…
máquina
It is borrowed from Latin machina (“machine, engine; contrivance”), recorded from the 15th century. Nascentes and Houaiss treat it as a learned word. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek μαχανά…
mármore
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *marmorem, the oblique form of Latin marmor (“marble”), and was written Old Galician-Portuguese marmor in the oldest texts. Nascentes takes it as a learned word…
ode
It is borrowed from Late Latin ode (“lyric song”), also written ōda, which is from Ancient Greek ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”). The Greek noun is the contracted form of ἀοιδή (aoidḗ), from ἀείδω (aeídō, “to…
óleo
It is borrowed from Latin oleum (“olive oil”). The medieval forms include Old Galician-Portuguese oyo, Old Galician-Portuguese olio and Old Galician-Portuguese oolio. Meyer-Lübke, as Nascentes…
ostra
It is inherited from Latin ostrea (“oyster”) (also neuter ostreum). The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ὄστρειον (óstreion), also written ὄστρεον (óstreon), “oyster, mussel; purple dye”, the…
palavra
It is inherited from Late Latin parabola (“speech, word”), first written Old Galician-Portuguese paravla and Old Galician-Portuguese paravra. In classical Latin it meant “comparison, illustration”…
pedaço
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin pitaccium, a form with metathesis of Latin pittacium (“small piece of cloth; label”), which is from Ancient Greek πιττάκιον (pittákion, “writing tablet; note…
pedra
It is inherited from Latin petra (“rock, crag, stone”), written Old Galician-Portuguese pedra in the oldest texts. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “rock”). The same Latin word is…
pepino
Its origin is disputed. Houaiss and Cunha explain it from an old word for “melon”, *pepom, which was taken for an augmentative and given the diminutive suffix -ino. Most other sources consider it…
perca
1. The word for the perch is borrowed from Latin perca (“perch”), which Houaiss and Aurélio take through the scientific genus name ⟨Perca⟩. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πέρκη (pérkē…
perdiz
It is inherited from Latin perdīx (“partridge”), written Old Galician-Portuguese perdiz in the oldest texts. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πέρδιξ (pérdix, “partridge”). The same Latin word is…
planeta
It is borrowed from Latin planēta (“planet”), from Ancient Greek πλανήτης (planḗtēs, “wanderer”), from πλανάω (planáō, “to wander, stray”). Houaiss calls the Latin word Late Latin and also names…
poesia
It is borrowed from Latin poēsis (“poetry, a poem”), which is from Ancient Greek ποίησις (poíēsis, “making, creation; poetry”). The Greek noun is formed from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make”) with the suffix…