saudade
[ soh-dahd; Portuguese soh-dah-juh ]
noun
(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.
Origin of saudade
1First 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” (see salute1)
Words Nearby saudade
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use saudade in a sentence
At the age of eighteen Camoens left Coimbra, bidding adieu to the old city in verses breathing the most tender saudade.
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