irmão

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• yrmão, hermão, irmao

Etymology

Inherited from Latin germānus (“brother”), from the adjective germānus (“of true siblings”), itself from germen (“sprout, bud”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁mn̥ (“offspring, seed”), from *ǵenh₁- (“to beget, to give birth”). Cognate with Old Leonese and Old Spanish ermano.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iɾˈmã.u/

Noun

irmão m (plural irmãos, feminine irmãa, feminine plural irmãas)

1. brother
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 382 (facsimile):

     […] el rey chamou / don manuel ſeu irmão

     […] the King called his brother Don Manuel

2. sibling

Related terms

• nacença
• nacer
• nada
• nado
• Natal
• natura
• natural
• natureza

Descendants

• Galician: irmán, ermao, irmao, hermao (Eonavian)
• Portuguese: irmão (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2025), “irmão”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “irmão”, 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), “irmão”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “irmao”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• irmã (dialectal)
• irmõ (dialectal)
• irmé (dialectal)
• irmem (dialectal)
• hirmão (obsolete)
• hirmaõ (obsolete)
• hyrmão (obsolete)
• hermão (obsolete)
• yrmão (obsolete)
• yrmaõ (obsolete)
• ermão (obsolete, dialectal)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese irmão (“brother”), from Latin germānus (“brother”), from the adjective germānus (“of true siblings”), from germen (“sprout, bud”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁mn̥ (“offspring, seed”), from *ǵenh₁- (“to beget, to give birth”). Cognates include Galician irmán, Mirandese armano, Asturian hermanu, and Spanish hermano. Doublet of germano, a learned borrowing, and hermano, a borrowing from Spanish.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /iʁˈmɐ̃w̃/ [iɦˈmɐ̃ʊ̯̃]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /iʁˈmɐ̃w̃/ [iɦˈmɐ̃ʊ̯̃]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /iɾˈmɐ̃w̃/ [iɾˈmɐ̃ʊ̯̃]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʁˈmɐ̃w̃/ [iʁˈmɐ̃ʊ̯̃]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /iɻˈmɐ̃w̃/ [iɻˈmɐ̃ʊ̯̃]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /iɾˈmɐ̃w̃/

• Audio (Brazil); “um irmão”:

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɐ̃w̃
• Hyphenation: ir‧mão

Noun

irmão m (plural irmãos, feminine irmã, feminine plural irmãs)

1. brother (male sibling)

   Synonyms: mano, familiar

   O meu irmão mais velho vai casar-se. ― My older brother is getting married.

2. sibling (person having the same parents as another)

   Eu tenho quatro irmãos: dois irmãos e duas irmãs.

   I have four siblings: two brothers and two sisters.

3. brother (member of a brotherhood)

   Irmão Maynard, leia o primeiro versículo do Livro dos Armamentos.

   Brother Maynard, read the first verse from the Book of Armaments.

4. brother; bro (close friend)

   Synonyms: bróder, camarada, amigo do peito

   Esse cara aqui é meu irmão, comigo para o que der e vier.

   This guy here is my brother, with me through ups and downs.

Derived terms

• (augmentative) irmãozão
• irmãozinho (diminutive)

Related terms

• germano
• hermano
• irmandade

Descendants

• Kabuverdianu: armum, armun, irma, irmon
• Papiamentu: ruman
• → Japanese: イルマン (iruman)
• → Konkani: इर्मांव (irmā̃v)

See also

• frade
• fraternal
• fraterno

Further reading

• “irmão”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025