comunitárias

Comunitárias is a Portuguese term that functions as both an adjective and a noun in relation to the concept of community. As an adjective, it describes things associated with a community or communal life, such as policies, projects, or activities that are organized around local participation and shared interests. Examples include phrases like ações comunitárias (community actions) or programas comunitários (community programs), where the emphasis is on local involvement, empowerment, and social cohesion.

As a noun, communautárias is the feminine plural form of the adjective used in certain contexts to refer to women who participate in or lead community-based work. In everyday usage, it can denote female members of a community or women who work within community-oriented programs, such as health, education, and social development initiatives. In public discourse across lusophone countries, the term often appears in connection with grass-roots organizations, neighborhood associations, and non-profit or civil-society activities that operate at the local level.

Usage and context vary by country and institution. In Brazil, the term may arise in discussions of community health work, social development projects, and neighborhood participation. In Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking regions, it appears in conversations about local governance, community organizations, and participatory planning. The concept aligns with broader ideas of community empowerment and participatory development, while remaining distinct from more formal or centralized approaches to governance.

Etymology: derived from comunitas (Latin for community) combined with the suffix -ário/-ária to form computador terms indicating relation to a community, with the feminine plural form atique. The term is widely understood but is not a fixed institutional designation.