massivos

Massivos is the plural form of the Portuguese adjective massivo, meaning large, heavy, or dense. The term is used across various domains to describe objects, quantities, or phenomena with substantial mass or size. In everyday language it can refer to physical bulks, such as estruturas massivas (massive structures) or cargas massivas (massive loads), as well as to figurative scales like consumo massivo (mass consumption) or produção massiva (mass production).

Etymology and usage: massivo derives from Latin massivus and has cognates in other Romance languages, such as masivo in Spanish and massivo in Italian. In Portuguese, massivo is common in both Brazil and Portugal, with regulatory and regional variations in emphasis and register. The plural massivos follows standard Portuguese pluralization rules.

Geology and technical nuance: in geology, the standard term for a large, cohesive rock mass is maciço, not massivo; massivo is more often used in general descriptive language rather than as a formal technical term. In media and journalism, massivo can be used to stress scale, for example audiência massiva (massive audience) or multidão massiva (massive crowd). In scientific writing, massivo may appear as an ordinary descriptive adjective rather than a specialized label.

See also: mass, massive, maciço, massif.