zebra

Forms

zebra f (plural zebras)^[1] Old Portuguese wrote zeura, zevra, zevro and zebro; the spelling zebra is dated 1721.^[2] Bluteau heads the word zevra, ou zebra.^[3]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”), a compound of equus (“horse”) and ferus (“wild”).^{[2][4][5][6][1]} Houaiss credits this etymology to Joaquim da Silveira, as reported by Corominas.^[2] The medieval word was Old Galician-Portuguese zevro or Old Galician-Portuguese zevra, the name of a wild equid of the Iberian Peninsula.^[2] The Galician version of the General Estoria calls wild asses Old Galician-Portuguese ezebros.^[4] The same Latin word is Spanish cebra and Galician cebro.^[1][7]

Houaiss and Corominas still call the origin uncertain.^[2][4] Menéndez Pidal derived it from Latin zephyrus (“west wind”), after the classical legend that swift mares conceived by the west wind;^[4][7] Corominas finds this possible only if the word took its form in Portuguese or western Leonese.^[4][7] Older Portuguese dictionaries called it an African word.^[8][9] Nascentes reports that the Spanish Academy took it for Ethiopian and Larousse for Congolese.^[10]

The name went with the African animal into Italian, and English took it from Italian about 1600, perhaps through Portuguese.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's earliest date is 1166, zeura, taken from Machado.^[2] Corominas reports zevra in 1166 and zevro and zevra in 1179.^[4] Viterbo quotes the Latin Foral of Lisbon of 1179, which taxes a zevro at one denarius; he took the word for a calf or cow.^[12] Houaiss says that the zevro was most likely a wild equid of the Peninsula, though it was also described as a deer or as cattle.^[13]

Semantic evolution

Corominas shows that the wild ass was common in medieval Spain and Portugal, where it left place names, and that literature made it the type of a swift, shy animal.^[4] The 16th- and 17th-century dictionaries translate zebra as Latin mula Syria “Syrian mule”.^[14][15][16] Bluteau describes the zevra as a mule-like animal of Sofala and other lands of Africa, striped in white and black.^[3] Morais in 1789 has only the African animal, grey with black stripes.^[17]

From the stripes came the pedestrian crossing, a striped fabric, a plant with striped leaves and, in Brazil, the striped uniform of prisoners.^[2][18] In Brazil the word also means a stupid person and, in sport and lotteries, an unexpected result.^[2] Wiktionary relates the last sense to the jogo do bicho, a betting game which has no zebra among its animals.^[1] In Beira a zebra is a long, badly made spinning top, and in the north of Portugal a mania or fixed idea.^[2][8] In Brazil it is also short for borboleta-zebra, a butterfly.^[2]

Timeline

• 1166 – zeura, Houaiss's first date, taken from Machado.^[2]
• 1179 – the Latin Foral of Lisbon taxes the zevro.^[12]
• 13th century – zevra and zevro, “wild horse”.^[2]
• 14th century – the plural zevras.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses zebra with Latin “Syrian mule”.^[14]
• c. 1600 – English zebra, from Italian.^[11]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the striped animal of Sofala.^[3]
• 1721 – the spelling zebra.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais defines only the African animal.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. A zebra, any of the African equids of the genus Equus with a striped coat.^[2][18]
2. A zebra crossing, a striped crossing for pedestrians.^[2][19]
3. (Brazil, derogatory) A stupid person; dunce.^[2][18]
4. (Brazil, informal) An unexpected result in a match or a lottery; an upset, and the underdog who causes it: O pequeno clube venceu o campeão: foi zebra.^[2][18][1]
5. (Rio de Janeiro) A prisoner's striped uniform.^[18]
6. (Beira) A long, badly made spinning top.^[2][19]
7. (Portugal, regional, informal) A fixed idea, a mania.^[2][19]
8. (botany) A Brazilian herb with striped leaves (Calathea zebrina).^[2][20]
9. (obsolete) A striped fabric.^[2]
10. (Brazil) A butterfly (Colobura dirce), short for borboleta-zebra.^[2]
11. (motor racing) A kerb on the corners of a track.^[1][21]

Word family

• zebrado
• zebrar
• azebrar
• zebrino
• zebroide
• borboleta-zebra
• peixe-zebra

Related words

• zevro
• Latin equiferus
• Spanish cebra

Usage notes

Dar zebra in Brazil means to turn out unexpectedly, usually badly.^[2][18] Priberam records the old sense “calf, cow”, which goes back to Viterbo's reading of the Foral of Lisbon.^[19][12]

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 f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. zebra
3. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. zevra
4. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cebra
5. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cebra
6. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9642
7. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. equiferus
8. ^ a b 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. zebra
9. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. zebra
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 532
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com, p. s.v. zebra
12. ^ a b c Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 416
13. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. zevro
14. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. zebra
15. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. zebra
16. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. zebra
17. ^ 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, 540
18. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. zebra
19. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. zebra
20. ^ Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. zebra
21. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. zebra