From Old Galician-Portuguesemaçãa, from Vulgar Latinmāla(“apples”)mattiana(“of Mattium”), though some theorize that mattiana was an Iberian pronunciation of the Gallo-Roman word matianium, a golden apple named after Gaius Matius, a horticulturist and friend of Caesar.[1]
1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Os Miragres de Santiago, Madrid: CSIC, page 136:
Ay espada moy fremosa, que nũca foy suzia nẽ ferrugeẽta, mais sempre foy fremosa et clara et cõueniuele d'ancho et de longo, mais forte et mais firme ca toda las outras, o mãgo tẽes d'almasi moy brãquo et feicto en gisa de cruz, cõ moy fremosa arrays dourada et cõ moy boa maçãa dourada de beril no magarõ.
Oh, sword which is very beauty, which has never been dirty or rusty but was always beauty and clear and appropriate in its width and in its length; stronger and firmer than the rest; your hilt is of the whitest ivory, made in the form of the cross, with a very beauty golden handle, and an excellent golden knob of beryl in the end
Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “maçã”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:ILG
Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “maça”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:ILG