''Senhor'' (, abb. ''Sr.''; plural: ''senhores'', abb. ''Sr.^es'' or ''Srs.''), from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Senior'' (comparative of '' Senex'', "old man"), is the Portuguese word for

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

, sir or mister. Its feminine form is ''senhora'' (, abb. ''Sr.^a'' or ''Sra.''; plural: ''senhoras'', abb. ''Sr.^as'' or ''Sras.''). The term is related to Spanish ''señor'', Catalan ''senyor'', Occitan ''sénher'', French ''seigneur'', and Italian ''signore''. Originally it was only used to designate a

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

lord or sire, as well as being one of the names of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. With time its usage spread and, as means of differentiation, noble people began to use ''Senhor Dom X'' (as when referring to the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

s or members of the high nobility), which translates literally in English as "The Lord, Lord X". In 1597, King Philip I issued a decree standardizing the noble styles in use in the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

. ''Sua Senhoria'' (translated as ''His Lordship'' or ''Her Ladyship'') was the prescribed manner of address to

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

s (with the exception of the Archbishop of Braga who, due to his rank as

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of Hispania, was entitled to the style of ''Sua Senhoria Reverendíssima'', or ''His Most Reverend Lordship''), bishops, dukes (with the exception of the Duke of Braganza, who was to be addressed as ''Sua Excelência'',

Your Excellency Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder usually retains the right ...

, same as the King's grandchildren) and their children, marquesses, counts, the Prior of Crato, viceroys and governors (when not related to the King), and other high authorities of the Kingdom (such as judges or ambassadors). After 1739, as

Grandee Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

s (dukes, marquesses, counts) were given the style of address of ''Sua Excelência'', the use of ''Sua Senhoria'' became restricted to address the lesser ranks of titled nobility (

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

s and barons), the legitimate sons and daughters of titled nobility, occupants of some offices at court, diplomats, some other authorities, and canons. Presently it is used in the same context as mister (''senhor Silva'', or ''Sr. Silva'', meaning "Mr. Silva"), or as a way of saying a formal " you" (''O senhor tem uma casa'' meaning "You (male) have a house"). In formal contexts ''o senhor, a senhora, os senhores'' and ''as senhoras'' (masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural "you", respectively) are preferred. However, there is considerable regional variation in the use of these terms, and more specific forms of address are sometimes employed. ''O senhor'' and ''a senhora'' are the most ceremonious forms of address. English speakers may find the latter construction akin to the parliamentary convention of referring to fellow legislators in the third person (as "my colleague", "the gentleman", "the member", etc.), although the level of formality conveyed by ''o senhor'' is not as great. In fact, variants of ''o senhor'' and ''a senhora'' with more nuanced meanings such as ''o professor'' ("professor"), ''o colega'' ("colleague") and ''o pai'' ("father") are also employed as personal pronouns. Often ''senhor'' is followed by another title or job description, such as doctor (''senhor doutor''),

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

(''senhor engenheiro''),

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

(''senhor professor''), or

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

(''senhor polícia''), thus conveying a high level of formality. Traditionally, but not presently, the feminine form ''senhora'' was only used for a married woman (a single woman was addressed formally as ''menina'', "young girl", in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

or by the diminutive ''senhorita'', "little lady", in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

References

{{Reflist Honorifics Portuguese language Men's social titles

See also

References