dágua

Dágua is a contracted form found in Portuguese that expresses a relationship related to water, typically understood as the combination of de (of) and água (water). In standard spelling, the contraction is usually written as d'água when it precedes a vowel-initial noun, as in poço d'água (water well). The single-word spelling dágua is not common in contemporary formal Portuguese and is more often found in dialectal writing, older texts, or as part of proper names.

Etymology and usage reflect the common Portuguese pattern of eliding a preposition before a vowel to improve phonetic flow. The form d'água is widespread in Brazilian Portuguese, especially in rural or regional speech, where it helps connect a noun of water with another element in a compound phrase. In formal writing, speakers and writers may opt for the non-contracted de água to avoid ambiguity.

In practice, d'água appears primarily in fixed expressions and place-related names, such as descriptors of rivers, wells, or geographic features, and in historical or literary texts that preserve older orthography. It serves mainly as a stylistic or regional variant rather than a distinct lexical item with its own set of meanings beyond the water-related relationship it denotes.

See also: água, de, prepositional contraction in Portuguese, poço d'água.