chão

See also: chao, Chao, chāo, cháo, chǎo, chào, and tchau

Old Galician-Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃã.u/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin plānum (“level ground”, noun), from plānus (“flat”, adjective).

Noun

chão m (plural chãos)

1. ground, floor
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 236 (facsimile):

     Como hũa moller que perigoóu no mar. ⁊ tragia un fillo pequeno nos braços. ⁊ fezea ſanta maria per címa das aguas andar de pé aſſi como ẏria per un muí bon chão.

     How a woman who sank in the sea. And had a small child in her arms. And Holy Mary brought her over the water to walk as she would in a good floor.

2. flatland, plain

Related terms

• prão

Descendants

• Galician: chan, chá, chao
• Portuguese: chão (see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin plānus (“flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”).

Adjective

chão (plural chãos, feminine chãa, feminine plural chãas)

1. flat, smooth
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, 325 cantiga Cantiga 325 (facsimile):

     Pois a Catiua eſperta. / foi achouſſ en űu camỹo / ancho ⁊ chão ſen pedras / ⁊ andou o mui feſtỹno

     So the smart captive / went and found herself in a path, / ample and flat, without rocks, / and walked through it very quickly.

Descendants

• Galician: chan
• Portuguese: chão

Further reading

• Universo Cantigas - "chão"

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• tchão (eye dialect, Northern Portugal)
• cham, chaõ (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɐ̃w̃/ [ˈʃɐ̃ʊ̯̃]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɐ̃w̃/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɐ̃w̃/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɐ̃w̃/

• Rhymes: -ɐ̃w̃
• Hyphenation: chão

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese chão (“ground”), from Latin plānum (“level ground”) < plānus, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). Compare Galician chan and Spanish llano. Doublet of plano, porão, piano, lhano, and flete.

Noun

chão m (plural chãos)

1. ground, soil, earth

   Synonyms: solo, terra

2. floor

   Synonyms: assoalho, piso

   Não deixe cair nada no chão. ― Don't let anything fall to the floor.

3. (poetic) land

   Synonym: terra

   Este é o nosso chão. ― This is our land.

4. (geography, obsolete) plain

   Synonym: chã

5. (Brazil, informal) a period of time between the present and a future event

   Synonym: tempo

   Ainda tem um chão até o dia de eu me mudar. ― There is still some time until the day I will move.

Derived terms

• rés do chão

Related terms

• Chã
• Chãos
• Chãs

Descendants

• Macanese: cham, (modern spelling) chám

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese chão (“flat, smooth”), from Latin plānus. Doublet of plano, piano, lhano, and flat

Adjective

chão (feminine chã, masculine plural chãos, feminine plural chãs)

1. (rare) flat, level, even, smooth

   Synonyms: plano, liso, nivelado

Derived terms

• Vila Chã

Further reading

• “chão” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕaːw˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕaːw˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [caːw˨˩˦]

Noun

(classifier sợi) chão • (󱫍, 󱫅)

1. rope; cord; cable (typically braided)

Noun

chão • (𧊌)

1. (in compounds) frog

Derived terms

• chão chàng
• chão chuộc