Toponymy

Toponymy is the discipline that studies the origin and meaning of the names of places, such as cities, towns, villages, streets and squares. In Portugal, toponymy is a very important area of study, as it reflects the history and culture of the country.

Glossary of toponymy terms for public spaces

Related to the designation of places there are a large number of terms and prefixes that help to better understand their characteristics. Here is a small glossary, with a list of the various designations associated with the toponymy of places or urban roads, according to Portuguese law.

Avenue

Road and pedestrian circulation, or, preferably, pedestrian only, integrating a green structure of a public nature, with strong central or lateral trees, which is assumed as a noble element of the territory, where living, recreation and leisure functions can be located and which, due to its uniform layout, its extension and transversal profile, stands out from the urban fabric where it is inserted, often constituting one of its main structuring elements.

anthroponym

General person name.

street layout

Public road for car, pedestrian or mixed circulation, usually flanked by sidewalks, which connects within urban spaces, and may present different profile situations along its length;

Avenue

Road and pedestrian traffic lane of considerable size (length and section greater than that of the street). with a uniform layout along its length and which generally borders a square. It is similar to Alameda, but less expressive in terms of its transversal profile. It has more than two lanes, being able to gather a greater number and/or diversity of urban functions, such as commerce and services, to the detriment of stay functions, green areas and recreation and leisure functions, even if it can contain them.

alleyway

Rustic and narrow path, the width of a car at most, opened between walls, hedges or high hedges.

Neighborhood

Set of contiguous or neighboring buildings, with their own urban and organic morphology, which distinguishes them in the urban fabric of the place.

Alley

Narrow and short street, most of the time dead end.

Sidewalk

Path or cobbled street with a steep slope.

Path

Mixed circulation road, or pedestrian, generally unpaved, and its layout can be winding and its profile narrow. It is more associated with rural environments, or with less than urban characteristics, and may not be flanked by walls or buildings or give access to urban occupations.

Bike lane

Road intended for the circulation of bicycles without motors.

Toponymic Designation

Complete designation of an urban toponym containing the proper name of the public space, the type of toponym and other elements that make up the plaque or toponymic landmark.

Building

Permanent construction, provided with independent access to the public space, limited by exterior walls or share walls, ranging from the foundations to the roof, and intended for human use or other purposes.

Edification

It is the activity or result of the construction, reconstruction, expansion, alteration or conservation of a property intended for human use, as well as any other construction that is incorporated into the soil on a permanent basis, under the terms of the legal regime of urbanization and building. instituted by Decree-Law n.º 555/99 , of December 16th, amended and republished by Decree-Law n.º 136/2014 , of September 9th.

stairs, stairway, stairs

Pedestrian route formed by a series of levels and/or steps, intended to connect places with different altitudes, on sloping terrain, in order to minimize the effort of the route.

Public place

Area of the territory that, by force of law or express act that has determined its integration in the public domain, is under municipal administration, being object of common use by the general public and, cumulatively, is integrable in any of the foreseen typologies, namely: avenue, street, avenue, alley, alley, sidewalk, path, staircase, staircase or steps, road, roundabout, garden, slope, square, place, park, square, square, street, yard, lane or alley.

Road

Paved land route, preferably intended for road traffic, which connects agglomerations or urban roads, and may be under municipal administration or other entities directly or indirectly administered by the state.

drawer

Corner building forming an angle.

Garden

Outdoor green space, inserted in the urban fabric and for public use. Characterized by a strong presence of vegetation, with functions of recreation and well-being of the populations residing in the immediate vicinity and whose access is predominantly pedestrian.

Slope

Paved path, or very steep street, inserted in the urban space.

wide or terreiro

Terrace or square without regular shape, nor rigor of urban design. It is a public space that assumes the function of a traffic distribution node where secondary road structures of the urban fabric abut, where the presence of trees, fountains, crosses, pillory is or was characteristic.

urban lot

A building intended for construction, constituted under an allotment operation or a detailed plan with registration effects, under the terms of Regulatory Decree No. 9/2009 of 29 May.

Place

Set of contiguous buildings, or very close, with five or more dwellings, and the respective surrounding area, which corresponds to a designation or toponym.

police number

Numbering provided by the municipalities, assigned to the entrance door, or gate, which gives access to a building, or, when this is not directly adjacent to the adjacent public space, to the plot of land, or lot, on which it is located,

urbanization works

Works for the creation and remodeling of infrastructure intended to directly serve urban spaces or buildings, namely road and pedestrian streets, sewage and water supply, electricity, gas and telecommunications networks, and also green spaces and other spaces for collective use, under the terms of the legal regime for urbanization and building instituted by Decree-Law No. 555/99 , of December 16th, amended and republished by Decree-Law No. 136/2014 , of September 9th.

Shoulder pad

Vertical side of a door or gate opening.

subdivision operation

Actions that have as their object or effect the constitution of one or more lots intended, immediately or subsequently, for urban construction and that result from the division of one or more buildings or their reparcelling, under the terms of the legal regime of urbanization and building instituted by Decree-Law n.º 555/99 , of December 16th, amended and republished by Decree-Law n.º 136/2014 , of September 9th.

urban operations

The material operations of urbanization, building, use of buildings or land provided that, in the latter case, for purposes not exclusively agricultural, livestock, forestry, mining or public water supply, under the terms of the legal regime of urbanization and building instituted by Decree-Law n.º 555/99 , of December 16th, amended and republished by Decree-Law n.º 136/2014 , of September 9th.

Courtyard

Multifunctional urban space of reduced dimensions, surrounded by buildings, generally residential.

Lintel

The upper part of door and window frames or caskets that holds the two jambs horizontally.

Portion

Portion of territory delimited physically, legally or topologically, not resulting from an allotment operation.

urban park

Large open-air public green space, characterized by a strong presence of vegetation, which may have parking areas. With great importance in environmental and landscape terms, it guarantees the continuity of natural ecosystems, microclimate regulation, atmospheric purification and the protection and enhancement of water and soil. It is assumed to be an accessible and pleasant place to support recreational and leisure activities, with a functional structure that gives users freedom of movement throughout the available area, without restrictions on streets and paved areas.

Tour

Part of the public road intended for pedestrian traffic.

toponymy plate

Kind of signboard with the inscription of the name of the place and other elements that make up the toponymic plate;

Square

Wide and spacious urban public space, in a regular shape, free of buildings but usually surrounded by buildings and served by one or more streets. As a rule, squares are central places, bringing together functions of a public nature, commerce and services, and generally have extensive free paved and/or wooded areas, with recreational and/or leisure areas for the enjoyment of the population.

square

A small square, usually associated with a housing function, but which can, however, combine functions of another order, which often originates from a widening of a road or in situations of impasse in the urban fabric.

Building

A delimited part of the land that is legally autonomous, including water, plantations, buildings and constructions of any nature incorporated therein or settled on a permanent basis.

District Attorney

Entity, public or private, responsible for undertaking urban operations.

Ramp

Inclined plane layout.

Roundabout

Square or circular square, generally due to the typology of its road structure - roundabout. Space for the articulation of the various road structures in a place, often of different hierarchical value, which does not present urban occupation in its immediate surroundings. Whenever it gathers urban functions and assumes itself as a structuring element of the territory, it takes on the name of Praça or Largo.

Road

Pedestrian and/or roadway, consisting of at least one carriageway, side service lanes, central crossing lanes, sidewalks and side lanes for stopping and parking that assume the functions of pedestrian circulation and stay, circulation , stop and car parking, access to buildings, continuity of the urban fabric, infrastructure support and spaces for observation and guidance. It may or may not present a green structure, its layout, as well as its profile, may not be uniform, and may include urban elements of another order in its route: squares, squares, etc., without this compromising its entity. Hierarchically immediately inferior to the Avenida, it will be able to gather several functions or only contemplate one of them.

yard

Unpaved space, flat and wide, within an urban perimeter or agglomeration, usually the churchyard or chapel.

toponym

Name of a place, place, town, street, etc.; designation by which a public space is known;

platter

Narrow street that connects two or more urban roads, usually lined with buildings.

Doorways, gates or gates

Openings to the outside;

lintel

Beam over doors or windows to support the continuation of the wall.

Via

Street layout that connects one place to another;

Alley

Street with narrow dimensions, tending to be in the old core of the urban fabric, with only one lane and with difficult or impossible circulation for motor vehicles.

Who can assign street or place names?

The attribution of names to places is the responsibility of the city councils, which must follow a public consultation process, and of the parishes, for the choice of names. The public consultation process includes the analysis and discussion of the names proposed by the population, as well as the assessment of their adequacy to the local history and culture.

When it comes to naming new streets or squares, it is common to choose names of important personalities from local or national history, such as writers, poets, politicians, artists, among others, in order to honor people, institutions or events of relevance to the community, preserving collective memory and cultural identity. It is also common to choose place names that relate to the history or geography of the region, such as rivers, mountains, or emblematic places.

In addition, toponymy in Portugal is also regulated by the Toponymy Commission, which is responsible for proposing the attribution of new place names and for ensuring the correct application of the law. The Toponymy Commission is made up of experts in history, linguistics and geography, and has a key role in preserving Portuguese cultural identity.

Brief History of Toponymy in Portugal

Toponymy in Portugal is very rich and varied, reflecting the country's history and cultural diversity and dating back to Roman times, when the Romans baptized places with the names of deities, heroes and emperors.

Some of the most common place names in Portugal originate from Portuguese words, such as "Rua", "Largo" and "Praça", however, many place names in Portugal originate from other languages, such as Arabic, Latin and Galician.

Toponymy in Portugal is governed by Decree-Law n.º 230/89 and Regulatory Decree n.º 19/89 , of July 21st, which creates the Creates the National Council of Toponymy and establishes its regulation with the norms and criteria to be followed for assigning place names. This is an advisory body for all toponym generating bodies (namely municipalities).

For example, the name of the city of Lisbon originates from the Latin "Olissipo", which means "gentle port". The name of the city of Évora comes from the Galician "Eburonia", which means "city of yew trees". The name of the city of Porto originates from the Latin "Portus Cale", which means "port of Cale".

In summary, toponymy in Portugal is a very important field of study that reflects the history and culture of the country. The correct attribution of place names is fundamental for the preservation of the Portuguese cultural identity and for the promotion of knowledge of the history and geography of the country.