Saudade is a Portuguese word for “an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent someone-or-something” (Wikipedia). It is pronounced [sɐwˈðaðɨ] in European Portuguese and [sawˈdadʒi] in Brazilian Portuguese, and Wikipedia notes it has no direct translation in English.
Origin
- Latin root. The word “ultimately derives from the Latin solitās, solitātis, meaning ‘solitude’” (Wikipedia). The Portuguese dictionary Priberam gives the same origin: Latin solitas, -atis, “solidão” (solitude).
- An early definition. Wikipedia cites the writer Duarte Nunes Leão, who defined saudade as “Memory of something with a desire for it.”
- Dictionary sense today. Priberam’s first definition is “Lembrança grata de pessoa ausente, de um momento passado, ou de alguma coisa de que alguém se vê privado”: a fond memory of an absent person, of a past moment, or of something one has been deprived of.
How It’s Used
The plural saudades appears in set phrases. Wikipedia describes “a strong desire to matar as saudades (lit. ‘to kill the saudades’)”, the idiom for finally satisfying the longing.
Saudade runs through Lusophone music:
- Fado. “Fado and saudade are intertwined key ideas in Portuguese culture,” and the singer Amália Rodrigues “typified themes of saudade in some of her songs” (Wikipedia). UNESCO inscribed fado on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011 (UNESCO).
- Bossa nova. “Chega de Saudade”, composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes, “is often considered the first bossa nova song to have been recorded” (Wikipedia). Elizeth Cardoso recorded it first, and João Gilberto recorded the second version in 1958.
- Dia da Saudade. In Brazil, “the day of saudade is officially celebrated on 30 January”; Wikipedia says the day is not widely acknowledged in Portugal.
Saudade vs. Nostalgia vs. Homesickness
English speakers often translate saudade as one of these words. Wikipedia says saudade “is similar but not equal to nostalgia.”
| Word | Core meaning | Aimed at | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saudade | Melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent someone or something | Someone or something beloved and absent | Wikipedia |
| Nostalgia | A bittersweet longing for the past; the term was coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer | A past time | Wikipedia |
| Homesickness | The distress caused by being away from home | Home | Wikipedia |