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-ão

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Portuguese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology 1

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    From Old Galician-Portuguese -on, from Latin -ōnem. Akin to Spanish -ón, Italian -one and French -on, compare Romanian -oi.

    Pronunciation

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    Suffix

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    -ão m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ões, feminine -ona, feminine plural -onas)

    1. forms the augmentative of nouns
      Synonyms: -ácio, -aço, -alhão, -arrão, -ázio, -eirão
      Antonyms: -inho, -ito, -culo, -ete
      1. forms nouns, from nouns denoting things, meaning “big thing,” usually but not necessarily with the same gender
        livro (book) + ‎-ão → ‎livrão (big book)
        janela (window) + ‎-ão → ‎janelona (big window)
      2. used to refer to things affectionately
        filho (son) + ‎-ão → ‎filhão (used by a father to address his son, when he is proud of the son)
        amigo (friend) + ‎-ão → ‎amigão (a good friend; a true friend)
      3. forms nouns, from nouns, implying that the suffixed noun is powerful or good
        carro (car) + ‎-ão → ‎carrão (high-performance car)
        calor (heat) + ‎-ão → ‎calorão (intense heat)
        soco (punch) + ‎-ão → ‎socão (powerful punch)
      4. in nouns that are formed from, or homonymous with, an adjective, it augments the quality expressed by the adjective
        cabeludo (long-haired (adjective); long-haired person (noun)) + ‎-ão → ‎cabeludão (person with very long hair)
    2. forms the masculine of animal names (whether the animal refers to females or to males and females)
      abelha (bee (any sex)) + ‎-ão → ‎abelhão (drone)
      cabra (she-goat) + ‎-ão → ‎cabrão (billy goat)
    3. forms nouns, from nouns, denoting an item of the same class as the suffixed noun, or which shares a characteristic with the suffixed noun
      calça (pants) + ‎-ão → ‎calção (shorts)
      agulha (needle) + ‎-ão → ‎agulhão (sharp rock on a riverbed)
      fogo (fire) + ‎-ão → ‎fogão (stove)
    4. (slang) forms nouns, from a numeral X divisible by ten and greater than thirty, meaning “someone in his Xs”
      quarenta (forty) + ‎-ão → ‎quarentão (someone in his forties)
    5. forms nouns, from a verb X, meaning a strong or violent instance of doing X
      arrastar (to drag) + ‎-ão → ‎arrastão (an instance of violently dragging something)
      puxar (to pull) + ‎-ão → ‎puxão (a strong or violent pull)
      pisar (to step) + ‎-ão → ‎pisão (a strong or violent step)
    6. (informal, derogatory) forms nouns, from a verb X, meaning an agent of such verb
      fugir (to flee) + ‎-ão → ‎fujão (someone who flees from something)
      cagar (to shit) + ‎-ão → ‎cagão (someone who shits upon something, a coward)
      mijar (to piss) + ‎-ão → ‎mijão (someone who wets themselves)
      arregar (to back off) + ‎-ão → ‎arregão (someone who backs off from a challenge, a quitter)
    7. (Brazil, slang) forms nouns, from a numeral X, meaning “X amount of money” or “a bill worth X”
      cinco (five) + ‎-ão → ‎cincão (five bucks)
      mil (thousand) + ‎-ão → ‎milzão (a thousand bucks)

    Suffix

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    -ão (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -ona, masculine plural -ões, feminine plural -onas)

    1. (somewhat informal) forms the augmentative of adjectives, roughly equivalent to English quite
      grande (big) + ‎-ão → ‎grandão (quite big)

    Etymology 2

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    From Old Galician-Portuguese -ão, from Latin -ānus (-ian). Doublet of -ano.

    Pronunciation

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    Suffix

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    -ão m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ãos, feminine , feminine plural -ãs)
    -ão (adjective-forming suffix, feminine , masculine plural -ãos, feminine plural -ãs)

    1. (no longer productive) forms adjectives, nouns and proper nouns referring to a location or type of location, meaning “of or relating to that location” and nouns meaning “someone from that location”
      Synonyms: -ano, -ense
      vila (village) + ‎-ão → ‎vilão (villager)
      cidade (city) + ‎-ão → ‎cidadão (citizen)
      Beira (a region in Portugal) + ‎-ão → ‎beirão (relating to Beira”, “someone from Beira)

    Etymology 3

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    Pronunciation

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    Suffix

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    -ão m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ões)

    1. -on (forming nouns denoting subatomic particles)
      magnete (magnet) + ‎-ão → ‎magnetão (magneton)

    Etymology 4

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    From Old Galician-Portuguese -an, from an (modern Portuguese: hão) from Latin habent, third-person plural present indicative of habeō (to have).

    Pronunciation

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    Suffix

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    -ão

    1. forms the third-person plural future indicative, from the infinitive of verbs
      falar (to speak) + ‎-ão → ‎falarão ((they) will speak)
      comer (to eat) + ‎-ão → ‎comerão ((they) will eat)
      sorrir (to smile) + ‎-ão → ‎sorrirão ((they) will smile)

    Etymology 5

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    Pronunciation

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    • (Brazil) IPA(key): (stress on the penultimate syllable) /ɐ̃w̃/ [ɐ̃ʊ̯̃]

    Suffix

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    -ão

    1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of -am., now a common misspelling

    Usage notes

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    Words ending in -ão are pluralised differently depending on its origin:

    • Those in which the suffix is derived from Latin -ōnem (including all masculine augmentatives), as well as words derived from French words ending in -on, Italian words ending in -one or Spanish words ending in -ón (all from Latin -ōnem as well), are pluralised with -ões.
    • Those in which the suffix derives from Latin -ānus (-ian), as well as words derived from other Latin words ending in -ānus, such as mão and chão, are pluralised with -ãos.
    • Some words ending in -ão pluralise as -ães. In these cases the -ão is either not a suffix and derives from Old Portuguese -an, from Latin -ānem, -anēs, or derived from an -an suffix in Old Gallician-Portuguese which has become assimilated regardless of its derivation.
    • Some words have non-predictable pluralisations, for example:

    Derived terms

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    See also

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