ALDEA
s. A village; also a villa. Port. from the Ar. al-ḍai'a , 'a farm or villa.' Bluteau explains it as 'Povoção menor que lugar.' Lane gives among other and varied meanings of the Ar. word: 'An estate consisting of land or of land and a house, ... land yielding a revenue.' The word forms part of the name of many towns and villages in Spain and Portugal.
Historical Citations (6)
"The Governor (of Baçaem) Dom João de Castro, has given and gives many aldeas and other grants of land to Portuguese who served and were wounded at the fortress of Dio, and to others of long service...."—Simão Botelho, Cartas 3.
"Aldeas in the Country."—Danvers, Letters, i. 25.]
"Here ... in a sweet Air, stood a Magnificent Rural Church; in the way to which, and indeed all up and down this Island, are pleasant Aldeas, or villages and hamlets that ... swarm with people."—Valentijn, v. (Malabar), 11.
"Les principales de ces qu'on appelle Aldées (terme que les Portugals ont mis en usage dans l'Inde) autour de Pondichéri et dans sa dependance sont...."—D'Anville, Éclaircissemens, 122.
"The Coast between these is filled with Aldees, or villages of the Indians."—Dunn, N. Directory, 5th ed., 110.
"Il y a aussi quelques Aldées considérables, telles que Navar et Portenove, qui appartiennent aux Princes du pays."—Sonnerat, Voyage, i. 37.
From Hobson-Jobson by Yule & Burnell, 1886.