agrifoglio

Forms

agrifoglio m (plural agrifogli)^[1] Older variants are Old Italian agrifolium in the 14th century and agrifolio in Florio (1598) and Veneroni (1681).^[2][3] The forms acquifoglio and aquifoglio, from Latin aquifolium, are found in Domenichi and other authors.^[4] Dialect forms include Sicilian agrifogghiu and Neapolitan acrifoglio.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin acrifolium, a compound of Latin ācer (“sharp”) and folium (“leaf”), named for the spiny edges of the leaves.^[5][6][7][1] The LEI calls the Latin word a term of late and medieval scientific Latin; its survival in Italy owes much to the Latin of herbals, kept in the monasteries and folk medicine, so that the Italian word can strictly be called learned.^[3][5] The GDLI quotes Pliny's plural, spelt ⟨agrifolia⟩, crushed with salt as a remedy for the joints.^[8] DEI and Treccani compare Ancient Greek ὀξύφυλλον (oxúphullon) as a possible model.^[9][10] Devoto puts the voiced ⟨g⟩ down to the influence of agro.^[11]

The same Latin word gave Old French aigrefueille and Old Occitan agrefoil.^[6][3][12] A half-Greek variant *acrifolum, modelled on words in -φυλλον (-phullon) and already in a late glossary, prevails in southern France and gave Catalan grèvol.^[3][12] A parallel compound aquifolium, with acus (“needle”), is the source of Spanish acebo and Portuguese azevinho.^[12][1][4] North of the Loire the Romance word gives way to Frankish *hulis.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Paduan translation of Serapion (after 1390), in the form agrifolium, for the plant used in medicine.^[2] The LEI also cites Bencivenni, of the first half of the 14th century, on a decoction of the leaves.^[3][8] DELI's first sure record is P. F. Giambullari in 1539; the attestation from the Libro della cura delle malattie in the Crusca dictionary is a forgery.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the old herbals agrifoglio was a medicinal plant.^[2][3] Soderini remarked that it would better have been called agutofoglio, sharp-leaf, for its very prickly leaves.^[8] The plant is also called alloro spinoso, “prickly laurel”, and dialects often call it a wild laurel.^[13][4][3]

Its hard white wood is used by sculptors and cabinet-makers, and the plant is grown as an ornament.^[4][10] Today it is above all the evergreen of Christmas and New Year decorations.^[7][14][10]

Timeline

• First half of the 14th century – Bencivenni writes of a decoction of holly leaves.^[3]
• After 1390 – Agrifolium appears in the Paduan translation of Serapion.^[2]
• 1539 – P. F. Giambullari uses agrifoglio.^[5][7]
• 1598 – Florio records agrifolio.^[3]
• 1599 – Middle French aigrefuille is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. holly (Ilex aquifolium), an evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy, leathery, spiny leaves, small white flowers and red berries, used as a Christmas decoration.^{[7][15][13][14]}

Related words

• aquifoglio
• agro
• foglia
• Latin acrifolium

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 464
4. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 30
5. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 268
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 96
10. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier