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-ão
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: Appendix:Variations of "ao"
Portuguese
Alternative forms
Etymology 1
From Old Galician-Portuguese -on, from Latin -ōnem. Akin to Spanish -ón, Italian -one and French -on, compare Romanian -oi.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɐ̃w̃
Suffix
-ão m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ões, feminine -ona, feminine plural -onas)
- forms the augmentative of nouns
- forms nouns, from nouns denoting things, meaning “big thing,” usually but not necessarily with the same gender
- used to refer to things affectionately
- forms nouns, from nouns, implying that the suffixed noun is powerful or good
- in nouns that are formed from, or homonymous with, an adjective, it augments the quality expressed by the adjective
- cabeludo (“long-haired (adjective); long-haired person (noun)”) + -ão → cabeludão (“person with very long hair”)
- forms the masculine of animal names (whether the animal refers to females or to males and females)
- forms nouns, from nouns, denoting an item of the same class as the suffixed noun, or which shares a characteristic with the suffixed noun
- (slang) forms nouns, from a numeral X divisible by ten and greater than thirty, meaning “someone in his Xs”
- quarenta (“forty”) + -ão → quarentão (“someone in his forties”)
- forms nouns, from a verb X, meaning a strong or violent instance of doing X
- (informal, derogatory) forms nouns, from a verb X, meaning an agent of such verb
- fugir (“to flee”) + -ão → fujão (“someone who flees from something”)
- cagar (“to shit”) + -ão → cagão (“someone who shits upon something, a coward”)
- mijar (“to piss”) + -ão → mijão (“someone who wets themselves”)
- arregar (“to back off”) + -ão → arregão (“someone who backs off from a challenge, a quitter”)
- (Brazil, slang) forms nouns, from a numeral X, meaning “X amount of money” or “a bill worth X”
Suffix
-ão (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ona, masculine plural -ões, feminine plural -onas)
Etymology 2
From Old Galician-Portuguese -ão, from Latin -ānus (“-ian”). Doublet of -ano.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɐ̃w̃
Suffix
-ão m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ãos, feminine -ã, feminine plural -ãs)
-ão (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ã, masculine plural -ãos, feminine plural -ãs)
- (no longer productive) forms adjectives, nouns and proper nouns referring to a location or type of location, meaning “of or relating to that location” and nouns meaning “someone from that location”
Etymology 3
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɐ̃w̃
Suffix
-ão m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ões)
Etymology 4
From Old Galician-Portuguese -an, from an (modern Portuguese: hão) from Latin habent, third-person plural present indicative of habeō (“to have”).
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɐ̃w̃
Suffix
-ão (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)
Etymology 5
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɐ̃w̃/ (paroxytone)
Suffix
-ão (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)
- Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of -am., now a common misspelling
Usage notes
Words ending in -ão are pluralised differently depending on its origin:
- Those in which the suffix is derived from Latin -ōnem (including all masculine augmentatives), as well as words derived from French words ending in -on, Italian words ending in -one or Spanish words ending in -ón (all from Latin -ōnem as well), are pluralised with -ões.
- Those in which the suffix derives from Latin -ānus (“-ian”), as well as words derived from other Latin words ending in -ānus, such as mão and chão, are pluralised with -ãos.
- Some words ending in -ão pluralise as -ães. In these cases the -ão is either not a suffix and derives from Old Portuguese -an, from Latin -ānem, -anēs, or derived from an -an suffix in Old Gallician-Portuguese which has become assimilated regardless of its derivation.
- cão (“dog”) → cães (“dogs”), from Latin canem, canēs
- pão (“bread”) → pães (“breads”), from Latin pānem, pānēs
- capitão (“captain”) → capitães (“captains”), from Old Galician-Portuguese capitan, from Latin capitāneus
- alemão (“German”) → alemães (“German(s)”), from Old Galician-Portuguese aleman, from Latin Alemannus
- Some words have non-predictable pluralisations, for example:
Derived terms
See also
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