tubarão

See also: Tubarão

Portuguese

Alternative forms

tubaram (obsolete)

Etymology

Unknown. Some sources theorize a derivation from Old Tupi yperu (“shark”) with an unexplained t- prefix,^[1]^[2] which is highly unlikely due to the word being first attested in 1500, way before the Portuguese had enough contact with said language.

Compare Spanish tiburón, Galician tabeirón, Catalan tauró.

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /tu.baˈɾɐ̃w̃/ [tu.baˈɾɐ̃ʊ̯̃]

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /tu.bɐˈɾɐ̃w̃/ [tu.βɐˈɾɐ̃w̃]

Rhymes: -ɐ̃w̃
Hyphenation: tu‧ba‧rão
Homophone: Tubarão

Noun

tubarão m (plural tubarões, feminine (nonstandard) tubaroa, feminine plural (nonstandard) tubaroas)

shark (fish of the superorder Selachimorpha)
Near-synonym: cação
- 1500 May 1, Pêro Vaz de Caminha, Carta de Pero Vaz de Caminha [Letter of Pero Vaz de Caminha], Porto Seguro, page 7v:
  […] e leuaram daly huũ tubaram que bertolameu dijz matou […]
  […] and they took from there a shark that Bartolomeu Dias killed […]
- 1654 June 13, António Vieira, chapter V, in Sermam de S. Antonio [Sermon of Saint Anthony], São Luís; published in Sermoens do P. Antonio Vieira, volume 2, Lisbon: Officina de Miguel Deslandes, 1682, page 335, column 2, line 359:
  Rodèa a Náo o Tubaráõ nas calmarias da Linha com os ſeos Pegadores ás coſtas, taõ cirzidos com a pelle, que mais parecem remẽdos, ou manchas naturaes, que os hoſpedes, ou companheiros.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 2025 May 5, Giovana Kebian, “Portaria regulamenta pesca do tubarão-azul, espécie quase ameaçada de extinção, e revolta ambientalistas”, in Folha de S.Paulo‎^[1], São Paulo: Folha da Manhã, →ISSN:
  Em 2024, a Sea Shepherd Brasil entrou com uma ação civil pública com pedido de liminar contra a União, denunciando a ausência de políticas públicas de proteção de espécies como tubarões e raias, substituídas por permissões de exploração econômica. A medida aguarda julgamento na 11ª Vara Federal de Curitiba.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

The gender of this Portuguese zoonym is always masculine: when the gender of the being itself must be specified, use “tubarão macho” for male, and “tubarão fêmea” for female. Here, fêmea is treated as an undeclinable noun and don't necessarily need to agree in gender with the referent, but would change to fêmeo if so.

Derived terms

References

^ Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 612
^ Maria Helena Guedes (2015) O Tubarão Baleia! (in Portuguese), page 45