agnello

Forms

agnello m (plural agnelli, feminine agnella)^[1] Old Italian forms include angnello, agnelo, agniello and agnel.^[2] Northern dialects have Piedmontese agnel and Ligurian agnelu.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin agnellus (“little lamb”), the diminutive of agnus (“lamb”).^[4][5][6][1] The diminutive is found as early as Plautus, and over most of the Romance area it slowly replaced the simple word.^[7][3] In Italy it is a later layer than the simple word (whence agno): it prevails in the north, the centre, Calabria and Sicily, while south of a line from Anzio to the Sangro both types live side by side.^[3]

The same word is Romanian miel, Dalmatian agniál, Friulian agnèl, French agneau, Occitan anhel and Catalan anyell;^[3][5][8] Old French had anel.^[3][5][8] The Iberian languages lack it and use derivatives of Latin chordus instead.^[9]

The Latin simple word goes back to Proto-Italic *agʷnos and Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷnós (“lamb”).^[10][1] Its cognates include Ancient Greek ἀμνός (amnós), Old Irish úan and Old Church Slavonic агнѧ (agnę).^[10][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a document from Savona of 1178–1182, with the sense “lamb”.^[2][5][6] DELI's first literary record is Guittone, before 1294, who also uses the word for a meek person.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the lamb stood for patience, humility and meekness, and in religious language for Christ and his sacrifice, the Easter lamb.^[2] Dante writes of the Agnel di Dio che le peccata leva, the Lamb of God who takes away sins, and warns: non fate com' agnel che lascia il latte / della sua madre, do not be like the lamb that leaves its mother's milk.^[11][12] Old Italian also used the word for the constellation Aries and for a French gold coin of Philip the Fair worth sixteen sous, with the Easter lamb on its face.^[2][11]

Later senses are the meat of the animal and its tanned skin.^[6][13] The diminutive agnellino is recorded about 1350, and agnellina, lambskin, from 1310;^[4] agnellatura, the lambing of ewes, is a herdsmen's word of 1797.^[4] In the slang of the Camorra an agnello is the victim of a theft or extortion.^[13]

Timeline

• 1178–1182 – Agnello appears in a document from Savona.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Guittone uses it for the lamb and for a meek person.^[4]
• c. 1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses agnello.^[3]
• 1310 – Agnielina “lambskin” is recorded.^[4]
• c. 1350 – Agnellino appears in the Italian translation of Crescenzi.^[4]
• 1797 – Agnellatura “lambing” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lamb, the young of the sheep up to a year old.^[6][13][14]
2. Lamb, the meat of the animal: spalla d'agnello.^[6][13][15]
3. Lambskin, tanned, sheared or with the wool, used for coats and trimmings.^[6][13][15]
4. (figurative) A meek, gentle person; an innocent one: mite come un agnello.^[6][13][14]
5. (Christianity) Agnello di Dio, Jesus Christ; by extension a Christian believer.^[6][15][16]
6. (numismatics, historical) A French gold coin with the Easter lamb on its face.^[6][11]
7. (Camorra slang) The victim of a theft or extortion.^[13]

Word family

• agnellino
• agnellatura
• agnelletto
• agnellone
• agnellaio

Related words

• agno
• agnella
• Latin agnus
• French agneau

Usage notes

The feminine is agnella.^[1][13] Agnello is also a male given name.^[1][17] Agnello grasso is a Tuscan name of the stonecrop Sedum dasyphyllum.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 1338
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 91
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org