alloro

Forms

alloro m (plural allori)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian alauro, Old Italian allauro and Old Italian aloro.^[2][1] The southern form is Sicilian aḍḍauru.^[1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin laurus (“laurel, bay tree”), taken over with the feminine article: DELI and GRADIT start from the Latin phrase (il)la(m) lauru(m) “the laurel”, in which the initial ⟨l-⟩ was later felt to be the article and dropped.^[4][5][1] Sabatini–Coletti gives the Vulgar Latin stage as *lalòru.^[6] Nocentini explains that the vowel of the article joined the noun when it became masculine, and that the double ⟨-ll-⟩ comes from the many words with the prefix a-.^[7] Devoto compares the same loss of a false article in allodola beside lodola, and also thinks of a crossing with oro.^[8] DEI explains both the central and northern form and the southern Sicilian addauru by the fusion of the article.^[3]

The Latin word is pan-Romance: Occitan laur, Catalan llor, Portuguese louro, Sardinian laru and Romanian laur (which names the thorn apple).^[7][9] Its derivative Occitan laurier was borrowed as French laurier and Spanish laurel.^[7][9] The learned doublet is lauro.^[4][1]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown to the OLD.^[10] Nocentini takes it from a pre-Latin substrate and connects it with Ancient Greek δάφνη (dáphnē, “laurel”).^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Florentine document of 1286–1290, and the oldest senses are the evergreen tree itself, its leafy branches, and the laurel as a sign of glory, the wreath of victors and poets.^[2] DELI dates the sense “symbol of glory” to Dante (before 1321).^[4]

Semantic evolution

The tree and the glory have run side by side since Old Italian.^[2] Petrarch, who preferred lauro for its echo of Laura, also wrote of “quella Dafne che divenne alloro” (“that Daphne who became a laurel”), and Landino explained that the Greeks called it Dafne, the Latins lauro and “we” alloro.^[11] The Italian Crescenzi describes the allore as a large tree with long, hard, evergreen and very fragrant leaves.^[11] Migliorini, quoted by DELI, observed that lauro and alloro live side by side almost as equals in poetry, while botany has laurels that are not allori.^[4]

The figurative sense of triumph or success gave the phrases mietere allori (to reap laurels) and dormire or riposare sugli allori (to rest on one's laurels).^[5][12][13] The leaves are also a kitchen herb.^[5][6] Old Italian orbacca, the laurel berry, comes from a Latin phrase meaning “laurel berry”.^[14]

Timeline

• 1286–1290 – A Florentine document has the first record.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the laurel as a symbol of glory.^[4]
• About 1336 – Boccaccio uses alloro for the tree.^[4]
• 18th century – Alloro spinoso is recorded as a name of the holly.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), an evergreen tree with tough aromatic leaves, often grown as an ornamental.^{[5][13][12][1]}
2. The leaves of this tree used in cooking, bay leaves: due foglie di alloro nel sugo.^[5][6][1]
3. A wreath of laurel leaves, given in Greek and Roman antiquity and in the humanist world as a sign of wisdom, poetic glory or athletic victory.^[5][15]
4. (figurative) Triumph, glory: dormire sugli allori (to rest on one's laurels).^{[5][13][12][16]}

Word family

• allorino

Related words

• laurato
• laurea
• laureato
• laureo
• laureola
• lauro
• orbacca
• Latin laurus
• French laurier

Usage notes

Alloro spinoso is the holly.^[12][17][3] DEI records further plant names, such as alloro avvocato for the avocado tree.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 135
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 41
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)