traíra

See also: traira, trairá, and trairà

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• trahira, trahyra (pre-standardization spelling)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tɾaˈi.ɾɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɾɐˈi.ɾɐ/

• Rhymes: -iɾɐ
• Hyphenation: tra‧í‧ra

Etymology 1

traíra (Hoplias malabaricus)

Etymology tree

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *tareʔir

Old Tupi tare'irabor.

▲

Portuguese trairinflu.?

Portuguese traíra

Borrowed from Old Tupi tare'ira. Spelling and noun 2 sense 1 were influenced by trair (“to betray”), possibly due to the fish’s cannibalistic behavior (see 1920 quote).

Noun

traíra f (plural traíras)

2. (Brazil) trahira (Hoplias malabaricus)
   • 1865, José de Alencar, chapter XXI, in Iracema: Lenda do Ceará, Rio de Janeiro: Typ. de Viana e Filhos, page 96:

     Chegão os viajantes á foz do rio onde se crião em grande abundancia as saborosas trahiras, suas praias são povoadas pela tribu dos pescadores, da grande nação dos Pytiguaras.

     The travelers arrive at the river mouth where the flavorful trahiras are bountifully raised, its beaches are inhabited by the fisherman tribe from the great nation of the Potiguara.

   • 1920 January 7, “Lanterna Magica”, in Jornal do Brasil, volume XXX, number 7, Rio de Janeiro, page 6:

     — Trahira não come trahira
     — Não come, porém, trae!

     — Trahiras don’t eat trahiras
     — They don’t eat, but they betray!

   • 1920 September 14, “Côrte de Appellação: Aggravo N.º 6129 [Court of Appeals: Appeal #1629]”, in O Jornal, volume II, number 454, Rio de Janeiro, page 6:

     E’ tradição popular, oriunda dos nossos caboclos, que a trahyra quando tem fome, e não encontra alimento, devora os parentes velhos.

     It is a popular saying, stemming from our caboclos, that the trahira, when it is hungry and does not find food, devours its elder relatives.

   • 1937 February 27, “Rio Grande do Sul: A commissão de tabellamento — A fundação de um gymnasio — Fallecimentos — Viajantes”, in Jornal do Commercio, volume 110, number 126, Rio de Janeiro, page 3:

     Foi pescada na lagoa Heitor Mercio, em Bagé, uma trahira com 80 centimetros de comprimento.

     A trahira with 80 centimeters of length was caught at lake Heitor Mercio.

Descendants

• → English: trahira
• → Hunsrik: Traira

Noun

traíra m or f by sense (plural traíras)

2. (Brazil, colloquial, derogatory) betrayer; traitor

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:traidor

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

traíra

1. first/third-person singular pluperfect indicative of trair

Further reading

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