saudade

[ soh-dahd; Portuguese soh-dah-juh ]

noun

1. (in Portuguese folk culture) a deep emotional state of melancholic longing for a person or thing that is absent:

   the theme of saudade in literature and music.

Word History and Origins

Origin of saudade¹

First recorded in 1910–15; from Portuguese: literally, “yearning,” from Latin sōlitāt-, stem of sōlitās “loneliness, solitude” ( Latin -l- between vowels is lost in Portuguese); the original Old Portuguese soidade was changed to saudade by association with saudar “to greet” ( salute ¹( def ) )

Example Sentences

At the age of eighteen Camoens left Coimbra, bidding adieu to the old city in verses breathing the most tender saudade.

From Project Gutenberg