chão

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

Old Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃã.u/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin plānum (“level ground”).

Noun

chão m (plural chãos)

1. ground, floor
   • 13th century CE, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, E codex, 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

Etymology 2

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

Adjective

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

1. flat, smooth
   • 13th century CE, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, E codex, 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

Portuguese

Alternative forms

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

Pronunciation

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

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɐ̃w̃/

• (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ʃɐ̃w̃]
• Rhymes: -ɐ̃w̃
• Hyphenation: chão

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese chão (“ground”), inherited from Latin plānum (“level ground”) < plānus, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). Compare Galician chan and Spanish llano. See also the borrowed doublet plano and the semi-learned porão.

Noun

chão m (plural chãos)

1. ground, soil, earth

   Synonyms: solo, terra

2. floor

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

   Synonyms: assoalho, piso

3. (poetic) land

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

   Synonym: terra

4. (geography, obsolete) plain

   Synonym: chã

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

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

   Synonym: tempo

Related terms

• plano
• rés do chão

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese chão (“flat, smooth”), from Latin plānus. Doublet of plano, as above, and piano.

Adjective

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

1. flat, level, even, smooth

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

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

Noun

chão • (𥿣, 𦄹)

1. rope; cord; cable (typically braided)

Noun

chão • (𧊌)

1. (in compounds) frog

Derived terms

Derived terms

• chão chàng
• chão chuộc