They remind us that our language is not just a tool: it is a garden, ark and map
There is a moment in the history of languages when words are packaged, labeled as old or “out of use,” and left on the shelf of oblivion — like letters never sent.
In Portuguese, this silent collection hides treasures: beautiful words that sound powerful in themselves, but that rarely cross our everyday speech. Reviewing this lexicon is like opening drawers of time and collecting petals that resisted the winds of modernity.
Here are ten words with musicality and meaning worthy of revival — and the best part: each of them has a reason to exist, according to reliable sources.
10 beautiful words in Portuguese that almost no one uses and the meaning of each one
1. Alvísaras
Expression that good news or reward for welcome news. According to Revista Rua, “good luck” is used to announce joy and recognition.
2. Polography
Curious name for “description of the sky” or “record of the celestial vault”. It appears in lists of rare terms in Portuguese.
3. Senescence
This is the natural process of aging. It affects living organisms, not just people, and appears in specialized vocabularies.
4. Diletant
Much more elegant than “amateur”, a dilettante is someone who dedicates themselves to an art or science for pleasure, without professional ambition.
5. Graçolar
Deliciously rare verb: means telling jokes, making jokes. It is in lists of 20 little-known words in the Portuguese language.
6. Jaez
Word of Arabic origin that designates “species, pattern, feature”. It also appears as a set of attributes.
7. Harmless
That it causes no harm, that it is harmless. An adjective that fits very well in scientific or literary speeches — but is rarely seen in everyday speech.
8. Homizio
Rare disuse, but full of meaning: shelter, hiding place, refuge. It reappears in ancient archaeological and literary texts.
9. Irruption
Less common version of “sudden invasion” or “sudden entry”. It occurs in formal texts and literary discourse.
10. Abléfaro
Intriguing adjective that qualifies those who do not have eyelids — a clinical and poetic term at the same time. It is on lists of rarely used words.
Each word here is a fragment of a linguistic past that has survived in dictionaries or scholarly texts. Reusing them means rediscovering dormant voices and rescuing forms of expression that still carry power.
Use “good news” when good news arrives; invoke “graçolar” in a joking tone; think “homizio” when looking for silence; and let “senescence” haunt denser reflections.
These ten words remind us that Portuguese is not just a tool: it is a garden, ark and map.
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