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zeloso

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word zeloso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1300s More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ζῆλος

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /zeˈlo.zu/[1]
  • Portugal: /zɨˈlo.zu/[1]

Forms

zeloso (feminine zelosa, masculine plural zelosos, feminine plural zelosas, comparable, comparative mais zeloso, superlative o mais zeloso or zelosíssimo, metaphonic)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese zelo + -oso.[2][1][3] The noun zelo is from Latin zēlus (“envy, jealousy”), from Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, emulation, jealousy”).[4][5][6]

Houaiss dates the adjective to the 14th century and lists Old Galician-Portuguese ceoso (13th century) and Old Galician-Portuguese zeoso (14th) among its old forms, the present spelling following in the 15th.[2] He also gives the 13th-century form as that of cioso, and Cunha too puts it with that word and dates the present spelling to the 15th century.[7][5] Cunha derives the inherited adjective from Late Latin *zēlōsus, and Wiktionary calls it the popular doublet of the learned one.[8][1] The same pair is in Spanish, where DELPo compares Spanish celoso.[9]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau in 1712 has the word for someone moved by zeal for another's good.[10] Morais in 1789 gives both senses, “full of zeal” and “jealous” (that is, cioso), and they are still the two that Priberam and Michaelis list.[11][12][13] Houaiss divides the sense of care into diligence at work, vigilance and devoted care for a person.[2] In Rio Grande do Sul the sense “jealous, envious” is the usual one, as in the Spanish of the Plate.[14]

Timeline

  • 14th century – first record, as zeoso.[2]
  • 15th century – the spelling zeloso.[2][5]
  • 1568 – zeloso in a private letter.[15]
  • 1712 – Bluteau: moved by zeal.[10]
  • 1789 – Morais adds the sense “jealous”.[11]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. diligent, careful and attentive in what one does: uma funcionária zelosa.[2][16][1]
  2. Watchful, cautious (cauteloso).[2]
  3. Devoted to someone, taking great care of them; desvelado.[2][3]
  4. jealous, ciumento.[2][12][1]

Word family

  • zelosamente
  • zelador
  • zelar
  • zelo
  • zelote
  • cioso
  • Latin zēlus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. zeloso
  3. ^ 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. zeloso
  4. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. zelo
  5. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. zelo
  6. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. ζῆλος
  7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cioso
  8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cio
  9. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. zeloso
  10. ^ 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. zeloso
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. zeloso
  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. zeloso
  14. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 2
  15. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. zeloso
  16. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. zeloso
Cite this entry

“Zeloso.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/zeloso. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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