matuto

From mato (“forest; bush; woods”) +‎ -uto (relational suffix), literally “from the bush”, “belonging to the woods”. Not related to matutino, which is from Latin matutinus, from Matuta, the goddess of morning, whereas mato (a variant of mata) is believed to be from Latin matta.

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• Hyphenation: ma‧tu‧to
• Rhymes: -utu

matuto (feminine matuta, masculine plural matutos, feminine plural matutas)

1. sylvan; sylvatic
2. (Brazil)
   1. rustic; peasantish; rural
   2. (derogatory) yokelish
   3. (Northeast Brazil) shy; reserved; bashful; mousy

      Synonyms: acanhado, caipira, encabulado, tímido

      Deixa de ser matuto, home! Fica se escondendo das visitas…

      Stop being so mousy, mate! You're always hiding from them guests.

3. (figurative) maniacal
4. (informal) wily; cunning; sly

matuto m (plural matutos, feminine matuta, feminine plural matutas)

1. woodlands dweller; woodlander; bushman
2. (Brazil)
   1. a rustic; countryman; peasant

      Synonyms: caipira, roceiro, sertanejo, caburé, caiçara (São Paulo), saquarema (Rio de Janeiro), tapiocano, tabaréu

   2. (derogatory) yokel; country bumpkin; hillbilly

      Synonyms: caipira, jeca, jacu

   3. (Northeast Brazil) a reserved person; shybie; mouse

      Synonym: tabaréu

3. (figurative) a maniac
4. (informal) a wily person; a fox

   Synonyms: matreiro, finório

• matuta-e-meia, tuta-e-meia

matuto

1. first-person singular present indicative of matutar

• “matuto”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026