What does saudade describe?

A deep longing for someone or something absent

Which period of Portuguese history is often linked to the feeling?

The Age of Discoveries, when sailors left for years

Saudade Quiz: Portugal's Untranslatable Longing

Portuguese speakers often say no other language has an exact word for the bittersweet longing called saudade, and this saudade quiz explores where it lives. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on its Latin roots, King Duarte's writings, fado and Amália Rodrigues, Brazil's Chega de Saudade, Cape Verde's Sodade and Galician morriña.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Meaning
What does saudade describe?
Roots
Which Latin word is saudade thought to come from?
King
Which Portuguese king wrote about saudade in the 15th century?
Fado
Which music genre is most closely tied to saudade?
Amália
Which singer is called the Queen of Fado?
Bossa
Which 1958 song is often called the first bossa nova record?
Cape Verde
Which Cape Verdean singer made the song Sodade famous?
Day
On which date does Brazil celebrate Dia da Saudade?
History
Which period of Portuguese history is often linked to the feeling?
Galicia
Which Galician word expresses a similar homesick longing?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What does saudade describe?
Answer: A deep longing for someone or something absent
It mixes love, loss and the hope of return.
Q2: Which Latin word is saudade thought to come from?
Answer: Solitas, meaning solitude
The idea of being alone shaped its meaning of missing someone.
Q3: Which Portuguese king wrote about saudade in the 15th century?
Answer: King Duarte
Dom Duarte discussed it in his book Leal Conselheiro.
Q4: Which music genre is most closely tied to saudade?
Answer: Fado
Fado's mournful songs grew up in Lisbon and Coimbra.
Q5: Which singer is called the Queen of Fado?
Answer: Amália Rodrigues
Amália carried fado and its saudade around the world.
Q6: Which 1958 song is often called the first bossa nova record?
Answer: Chega de Saudade
João Gilberto recorded the Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes song.
Q7: Which Cape Verdean singer made the song Sodade famous?
Answer: Cesária Évora
Sodade is the Cape Verdean Creole form of saudade.
Q8: On which date does Brazil celebrate Dia da Saudade?
Answer: January 30
The day invites people to remember absent loved ones.
Q9: Which period of Portuguese history is often linked to the feeling?
Answer: The Age of Discoveries, when sailors left for years
Families waited for ships that might never return.
Q10: Which Galician word expresses a similar homesick longing?
Answer: Morriña
Galician and Portuguese share deep roots.

Saudade Quiz – The Word for Longing

Saudade is a Portuguese word for a deep, bittersweet longing for someone or something absent, often with the knowledge it may never return. It probably comes from the Latin solitas, solitude, and King Duarte wrote about it in the 15th century.

The feeling is linked to Portugal's Age of Discoveries, when sailors left their families for years. It runs through fado, the Lisbon song style made famous by Amália Rodrigues, and through Brazil's bossa nova, whose first record, Chega de Saudade, appeared in 1958.

In Cape Verde, Cesária Évora made Sodade a global hit, and Galician has the related word morriña. Brazil marks Dia da Saudade on January 30.

What This Quiz Teaches

Language lovers and music fans will enjoy these questions.

What saudade means
Where the word comes from
Which music expresses it
Who sang about it
How countries celebrate it

Did You Know?

Saudade often appears on lists of untranslatable words.
Portuguese speakers say tenho saudades de ti, I miss you.
The feeling can be happy and sad at once.
Fado was added to UNESCO's heritage list in 2011.
Writers like Fernando Pessoa explored the idea.