pell

Forms

pell f (plural pells)^[1] Old Catalan also wrote peyl and peyll.^[2][3][1] It is pronounced with close /e/ in every dialect, except at Maella; the open vowel the DCVB records in some places reflects speakers or dialects that have merged the two vowels.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan peyl, which is inherited from Latin pellis (“skin, hide”).^[2][4][5][1]

The same Latin word is Occitan pèl, French peau, Italian pelle, Spanish piel, Portuguese pele and Romanian piele.^[6][1][7]

The Latin word continues Proto-Italic *pelni-, from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“skin, hide”); de Vaan compares Lithuanian plėnė (“membrane”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Lleuda de Cotlliure of 1249, a toll list that taxes carga de peyls de cabritz, "a load of kidskins".^[2][4][5] The word thus first appears for the hides of animals as a trade good.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Llull already uses the word for the living skin and for tanned hides: in the Doctrina pueril he contrasts the shoemaker who profits from dead skin with the child who should earn heavenly life with his living skin.^[9][2] Bernat Metge makes a husband mock his ageing wife, whose skin "should go back to the furrier, it hangs so much".^[2] The phrase deixar-hi la pell "to lose one's life" is in the Tirant lo Blanc.^[2]

Pere Pou's dictionary of 1575 uses the word for the skin of almonds, and in the Capcir the shell of an egg is called la pel de l'ou.^[2] In southern Valencian speech pell can mean "dead" of a person or an animal.^[2] Labèrnia in 1839 adds the rind of fruit and the skin of grapes.^[10]

Timeline

• 1249 – peyls de cabritz in the Lleuda de Cotlliure.^[2]
• 1294–1295 – first occurrence of the spelling pell in CICA, in the court records of Cocentaina.^[11]
• 1305 – peyls in a regulation of Perpignan.^[2]
• 1381 – Bernat Metge's Lo somni has the ageing wife's skin.^[2]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanc uses deixar la pell.^[2][3]
• 1575 – Pere Pou names la pell de les amel·les.^[2]
• 1839 – Labèrnia's dictionary.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) skin, the tough, flexible covering of the body: pell bruna.^[12][5][1]
2. pell de gallina: gooseflesh.^[12]
3. (figurative) Life: salvar la pell.^[12][5]
4. A person as to his character.^[12][5]
5. The hide or pelt of an animal, used as leather or fur.^[5][4][1]
6. The peel or thin rind of a fruit or a plant.^[4][10]
7. (textiles) A cloth resembling leather.^[5][4]

Word family

• pellaire
• pelleter
• pellissa
• pellofa
• pellot
• pelladura
• espellar
• espellifar
• pell de gallina

Related words

• Latin pellis
• Spanish piel
• Occitan pèl

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 397
3. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. pell
4. ^ a b c d e f Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. pell
5. ^ a b c d e f g Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. pell
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6377
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 537
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. pell
10. ^ a b c Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. pell
11. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. pell
12. ^ a b c d Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. pell