Roteiro (from Portuguese rota, route) is the name given to a handbook for the use of maritime pilots and sailors. The Portuguese term is cognate and approximate synonym of the English rutter. Roteiro is applied generally to maritime literature in use from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and specifically to nautical route descriptions compiled by and for sailors and pilots.[1]

The Portuguese word 'roteiro' is also a cognate of the French routier, and Spanish derrotero, all derived ultimately from Late Latin rupta (sc. via), a “broken” path, as in English path-breaking.[2] Over time, the roteiros, especially oceanic roteiros, evolved to include ethnographic, astronomical, trigonometrical and other data useful for blue water navigation.[3]

Well-known roteiros are:

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References

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  1. ^ In modern Portuguese, the word has evolved to mean any guide or schedule. See “roteiro” in Priberam dictionary.
  2. ^ Cf. rupta, in Du Cange’s Glossarium.
  3. ^ See Giurgevich, Roteiros portugueses dos séculos XV e XVI (Manuscritos) (RUTTER Technical note n. 7).