Where does “leirão” come from?

leirão (Portuguese) comes from Portuguese leira, from Old Portuguese leira, from Latin glarea, from Proto-Indo-European gel- — to be cold, to freeze.

leirão (Portuguese): dormouse

Definitions

  1. dormouse

Ancestry of “leirão”, step by step

leirão traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Portuguese leira

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Portugueseleirafurrow; a strip of cultivated land
2Old Portugueseleira
3Latinglareagravel
4Proto-Indo-Europeangel-to be cold, to freeze

via Vulgar Latin *glirionem

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vulgar Latin*glirionem
2Latinglisdormouse; A tenacious kind of earth
3Proto-Indo-European*gley-
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gel-