cavado

Cavado is a term used in Portuguese with multiple meanings depending on context. As an adjective, cavado means “dug” or “excavated,” derived from cavar, the verb for digging. It is commonly used to describe features that have been carved out or hollowed, such as landforms, wells, or trenches. In geographic naming, the form Cávado (with the accented a) appears in references to specific places and features.

The Cávado River, or Rio Cávado, is a principal river in northern Portugal. It originates in the Peneda-Gerês mountain range and generally flows westward toward the Atlantic Ocean, emptying near Esposende. The river’s basin covers parts of the Minho region and supports local ecosystems, agriculture, and rural communities. The Cávado is a defining geographic feature of the areas it traverses and has historically influenced settlement patterns and regional development in the Braga area.

Beyond geography, cavado can be encountered in toponymy and onomastics, where it may be part of place names or surnames in Portuguese-speaking contexts. The term’s basic sense—something that has been dug or excavated—often informs its use in historical, architectural, or agricultural descriptions. As a loanword in other languages, it is typically rendered with or without the diacritic, depending on orthographic conventions.