saudade

[ soh-dahd; Portuguese soh-dah-juh ]

noun

1. (in Portuguese folk culture) a deep emotional state of melancholic longing for a person or thing that is absent:

   the theme of saudade in literature and music.

Word History and Origins

Origin of saudade¹

First recorded in 1910–15; from Portuguese: literally, “yearning,” from Latin sōlitāt-, stem of sōlitās “loneliness, solitude” ( Latin -l- between vowels is lost in Portuguese); the original Old Portuguese soidade was changed to saudade by association with saudar “to greet” ( salute ¹( def ) )

Example Sentences

And Marcum embraced the Portuguese concept of saudade.

From Los Angeles Times

Her early recordings are her most radiant ones, steeped in the pensive, nostalgic longing that Brazilians call saudade.

From New York Times

By the 1950s, when he had become a part of the postwar German avant-garde, Zimmermann also declared his interest in Brazilian moods of saudade, American boogie-woogie, as well as the similarly eclectic music of French composers like Darius Milhaud.

From New York Times

Other highlights included Finland's The Rasmus, whose visuals drew inspiration from the horror film It; and Portugal's Saro, whose low-key ballad Saudade, Saudade was a tribute to her late grandfather.

From BBC

A procession of Puerto Rican nostalgia, each track is a time capsule stowing memories of epic seaside parties and gone-but-not-forgotten flings, touched with a residual island saudade.

From Los Angeles Times