devesa

Etymology

From Old Portuguese devesa, from Late Latin [terra] dēfensa (“defended land”). Cognate with Portuguese devesa and Spanish dehesa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.ˈβe.sa̝/

Noun

devesa f (plural devesas)

1. a vast woodland, usually walled or fenced, whose trees are not very densely packed^[1]
   • 1447, María C. Sánchez Carrera (ed.), El Bajo Miño en el siglo XV. El espacio y los hombres. A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 328:

     Iten enna Morgan hun pedaso de devesa acerca do camino publico segun que parte per hum marqo que esta ao pee de hun carvallo grande que sou [son] nove carvallos entre grandes et pequenos

     Item, in Morgan a piece of a devesa near the public way as it goes from a boundary stone at the feet of a large oak tree; and those are nine oak trees, large and small

   • 1948, Revista de Guimarães, volumes 58–60, page 303:

     Iba sempre a cabalo, pois tiña que andar máis de catro légoas por fragas, devesas e caborcos.

     He always rode a horse, for he had to travel over four leagues through isolated forests, sparse woods and gullies.

References

• “devesa” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “devesa” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “devesa” in Santamarina, Antón (coord.): Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
• “devesa” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Alternative forms

• devêsa (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Portuguese devesa, from Late Latin [terra] dēfensa (“defended land”).

Cognate with Galician devesa and Spanish dehesa.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.ˈve.zɐ/
• Hyphenation: de‧ve‧sa

Noun

devesa f (plural devesas)

1. enclosure
2. pasture
3. grove or plantation of chestnut trees or oaks