mamella

Forms

mamella f (plural mamellas)^[1] The variant marmella owes its ⟨r⟩ to barbilla; dialects have mermella (Ávila, Salamanca, Extremadura, Guadalajara), marmella (Soria) and Asturian mormiello.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin mamilla (“teat, nipple”).^[2][5][6][1] Varro already used the Latin word for the appendages on the throat of goats.^[3] The variant marmella took its ⟨r⟩ from barbilla “chin”, which must have been used in the same sense.^[2][5][7]

The same Latin word is Catalan mamella, French mamelle and Italian mammella, which keep the sense “breast, teat”.^[2][7] In Galicia the word is mamela.^[3]

The Latin word is a diminutive of mamma (“breast”).^[8][1] The learned doublet of this word is mamila.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas and the BDELC first find mamella and marmella in the Academy's dictionary of 1817, which refers mamella to marmella.^[2][5][9] The 1843 edition defines it as a growth of skin hanging like a teat from sheep, cattle and goats.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The Academy's 1884 edition gives the Latin source and the present definition, the long oval appendages on either side of the lower front of the neck of some animals, especially goats.^[11] In Caló, the Romani-influenced slang of Spain, marmella kept the Latin sense “breast”.^[2] The CDH has the plural mamellas for a woman's breasts in a 1965 novel.^[12] In Colombia the word was recorded in 1921 in a glossary of regional words.^[13]

Timeline

• 1376–1396 – the Old Spanish Textual Archive has the form once, in Juan Fernández de Heredia's Crónica de los conqueridores.^[14]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary records mamella and marmella.^[2][5][9]
• 1843 – the Academy defines it as a skin growth hanging from livestock.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the Latin etymon and the definition used today.^[11]
• 1921 – the word is recorded in Colombia.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) Each of the two long, oval wattles that hang on either side of the lower front of the neck of some animals, especially goats (cabras).^[6][1][15]

Related words

• marmella
• mama
• mamila
• Latin mamilla
• Catalan mamella

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 791
3. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 4084
4. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. marmella
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mama
6. ^ a b Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. mamella
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 546
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 453
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 667
12. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. mamella
13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. mamella
14. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. mamella
15. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mamella