coisa

Dalmatian

Etymology

Probably from Vulgar Latin *eccum sīc. Compare Italian così, Istriot cussèi, Venetian cusì, Friulian cussì.

Adverb

coisa

1. so
2. as, like
3. like this/that

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• cousa (dated)
• coysa (obsolete spelling)

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkoj.zɐ/ [ˈkoɪ̯.zɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkoj.zɐ/ [ˈkoɪ̯.zɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkoj.za/ [ˈkoɪ̯.za]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkoj.zɐ/

• Rhymes: -ojzɐ
• Hyphenation: coi‧sa

Etymology 1

Alteration of cousa, from Old Galician-Portuguese cousa, from Latin causa (“cause, reason”), meaning "thing" in Late and Vulgar Latin. Doublet of causa, a learned borrowing. Compare Galician cousa, Spanish, Italian, and Catalan cosa, and French chose.

Noun

coisa f (plural coisas)

2. thing (a physical object, entity, or situation)

   Aconteceu uma coisa bastante estranha ontem à noite.

   A very strange thing happened last night.

   Comprei umas coisas com o salário desse mês.

   I bought some stuff with this month’s salary.

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:coisa.
4. thingamajig; gizmo, thingy (something whose name is unknown)

   Dá-me aquela coisa. ― Hand that thing over to me.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:coisa

Derived terms

• coisa-feia
• coisa-ruim
• coisar
• coisas do arco-da-velha
• coisificar
• coisinha (diminutive)
• coisona (augmentative)
• que coisa

 

Descendants

• Kabuverdianu: kusa
• Guinea-Bissau Creole: kusa
• Macanese: cuza, ancusa
• Papiamentu: kousa

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

coisa

1. inflection of coisar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative