semilha

Borrowed from Spanish semilla (“seed”), from Latin semen (“seed”),[1][2] possibly from a label accompanying the first potatoes arrived in Madeira from the Canary Islands that was mistaken as identifying the name of the plant.[3]

• Rhymes: -iʎɐ
• Hyphenation: se‧mi‧lha

semilha f (plural semilhas)

1. (Madeira) potato

   Synonym: batata

   • 1848, Revista universal Lisbonense, volume 8:

     as semilhas (batatas) que, na decadência do vinho, eram o principal recurso da gente do campo, perderam-se, como em toda a parte.

     the potatoes that, with the decline of the wine, were the main resource of the country folk, were lost, like it happened everywhere else.

   • 1921, Fernando Augusto da Silva, Elucidário Madeirense:

     Morreu uma boa parte da população madeirense […] por haver faltado a semilha

     The failure of the potato crop resulted in the death of a high number of Madeirans

• semente f