cabelo

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese cabelo (“hair”), from Latin capillus (“hair”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈbɛlo/ [kɑˈβ̞ɛ.lʊ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlo

Noun

cabelo m (plural cabelos)

1. hair (individual strand)
   • c1350, K. M. Parker (ed.), Historia Troyana. Santiago: Instituto "Padre Sarmiento", page 96:

     Et avia os cabelos da cabeça et da barba vermellos

     And the hairs of his head and of his beard were red

   Synonym: pelo

2. hair; head of hair
   • 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana. Introducción e texto, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 453:

     El rrey Príamos era forte caualeyro et de forte coraçõ et moy duro et sen medo a sua gisa, mays pero, poys que esto oýo dizer, fóysselle alçãdo o cabelo, et fóysselle tomãdo hũ frío, et ouuo grã dulta et grã pauor de Éytor

     king Priam was a strong knight and had a strong heart and was very hard and fearless in his own way; but, as soon as he heard this, his hair raised, and a cold spree took him, and had a big fear and a big fright of Hector

   Synonym: pelo

Derived terms

• en cabelo

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “cabelo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “cabelo”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “cabelo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cabelo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cabelo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin capillus

Old Galician-Portuguese cabelo

Portuguese cabelo

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese cabelo (“hair”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈbe.lu/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈbe.lu/ [kɐˈβe.lu]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈbe.lu/ [kɐˈβe.lu]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈbe.lu/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -elu
• Hyphenation: ca‧be‧lo

Noun

cabelo m (plural cabelos, diminutive cabelinho, augmentative cabelão)

1. hair, head of hair

   O cabelo dela era louro. ― Her hair colour was blonde.

2. hair (a single hair filament)

   Synonym: fio (de cabelo)

   Há um cabelo na minha sopa! ― There's a hair in my soup!

3. (colloquial) body hair, especially if long

   Synonym: pelo

   • 1995 June 23, anonymous author, “Sabão Crá-Crá” (0:07 from the start), in Mamonas Assassinas‎^[1], performed by Mamonas Assassinas, Guarulhos: EMI:

     Sabão crá-crá, sabão crá-crá / Não deixa os cabelos do saco enrolar

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• The term cabelo is used for hair that grows on a person's scalp. Hair that grows on other parts of the skin or on non-human animals is pelo.

Derived terms

• cabelão (augmentative)
• cabeleira
• cabeleireiro
• cabeleiro
• cabelinha
• cabelinho (diminutive)
• cabelo de anjo
• cabelo-das-feiticeiras
• cabelo-de-cão
• cabelo-de-negro
• cabelo-de-vênus (Brazil), cabelo-de-vénus (Portugal)
• cabelos de anjo
• cabelos-de-nossa-senhora
• cabelos-de-raposa
• cabelos-loiros
• cabelos-louros
• cabeludo
• de arrepiar os cabelos
• de cabelo na venta
• descabelar
• estar pelos cabelos
• levantar cabelo
• pôr os cabelos em pé
• por um cabelo
• ter cabelos no coração

Related terms

• capilar

Descendants

• Guinea-Bissau Creole: kabelu
• Kabuverdianu: kabelu
• Kristang: kabelu
• Papiamentu: kabei

Further reading

• “cabelo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cabelo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈbelo/ [kaˈβ̞e.lo]
• Rhymes: -elo
• Syllabification: ca‧be‧lo

Verb

cabelo

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of caber combined with lo