zimbro

Forms

zimbro m (plural zimbros)^[1] The dialects of Portugal and of Salamanca also have jimbro, juimbre and jumbre.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin ziniperus, a popular form of Latin iūniperus (“juniper”).^[4][1] Cunha and Nascentes start from the variant *jiniperus, which Corominas notes is recorded in the Appendix Probi.^[5][6][7] Wiktionary traces the Portuguese word through the earlier forms Old Galician-Portuguese *jĩebro and *jĩbro, and Nascentes through *zĩibro.^[1][6] The initial ⟨z⟩ of the Vulgar Latin spelling may point to an affricate pronunciation of the Latin /j-/.^[1]

The same Latin word is Spanish enebro, Catalan ginebre, Occitan genebre, French genièvre, Italian ginepro and Romanian jneapăn.^[3] All the Romance forms go back to the variant with ⟨i⟩ in the first syllable, which Corominas explains as a kind of assimilation.^[7] The learned junípero is a doublet.^[1]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain: it is often connected with iūncus (“reed”), and Brüch took the form with ⟨p⟩ for an Umbrian borrowing.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary of 1569 has Zimbro with the Latin iuniperus, so the word already named the juniper.^[9] Cunha dates the word to the 16th century, and Houaiss gives 1593 for the plant name.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) describes a shrub with hard reddish wood that smells pleasant when burnt and with berries like those of ivy, green at first and black when ripe.^[10] Vieira (1871–1874) quotes a medical book that lists juniper berries among remedies.^[11] Today the word names the plants of the genus Juniperus and above all the common juniper, whose berries flavour gim and genebra.^[4][12]

Timeline

• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary glosses Zimbro with the Latin iuniperus.^[9]
• 1593 – Houaiss's first date for the plant name.^[4]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro has Zimbro, arvore.^[13]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau describes the shrub, its wood and its berries.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais calls it a common shrub.^[14]
• 1881 – Caldas Aulete records the unrelated zimbro “evening dew”.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. juniper, any tree or shrub of the genus Juniperus of the cypress family.^[4][1]
2. The common juniper (Juniperus communis), whose sweet aromatic berries flavour gim and genebra and are used to season preserved or smoked meat.^[4][12][15]
3. A juniper berry: Pus três bagas de zimbro no molho.^[1]

Word family

• zimbral

Related words

• junípero
• genebra
• gim
• Latin iūniperus
• Spanish enebro

Usage notes

A second noun zimbro, meaning the evening dew or a fine drizzle, is of obscure origin and was first recorded in Caldas Aulete's dictionary of 1881.^[4][5][16] In Rio Grande do Sul it is a rare word for the night dew, and in Trás-os-Montes zimbro is also recorded in the sense “cold”.^[17][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. juniperus
3. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4624
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. zimbro
5. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. zimbro
6. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. zimbro
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 610
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. iūniperus
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. zimbro
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. zimbro
11. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 1033
12. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. zimbro
13. ^ 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. zimbro
14. ^ 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
15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. zimbro
16. ^ 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. zimbro
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. zimbro
18. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. zimbro