Agency Dictionary
Saudade
nounPronunciation: /saʊˈdɑː.də/
In Portuguese: Saudade
Culture & Identity
Psychology & MindWhat does “Saudade” mean?
A profound, melancholic longing for an absent person, place, or time that is loved and remembered with bittersweet affection.
Etymology
Borrowed from Portuguese saudade, itself inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese soydade or soedade, tracing to Latin solitatem, the accusative of solitas (solitude). The irregular phonetic development that produced the modern form is widely discussed; influence from saudar (to greet) has been proposed but not firmly established.
Usage note
Saudade describes a longing mixed with the pleasure of the memory itself, distinguishing it from simple grief or nostalgia. It is often cited as untranslatable.
Synonyms
- longing
- nostalgia
Often confused with
- nostalgia
- Nostalgia is a wistful attachment to a past time in general; saudade is the felt absence of a particular person, place, or time that is loved.
Usage examples
In fact, there is a very famous Portuguese word known to be unique in our language and it goes as: “Saudade”, it is similar to “Longing” but special in its own way.
Concept
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.
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