assale

Forms

assale m (plural assali)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *axālis, a derivative of Latin axis (“axle”);^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Rohlfs starts from a phrase *ferrum axāle (“axle iron”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Reichenau Glosses already gloss the Latin word with ascialis.^[2][6] GRADIT takes it instead as an Italian formation from asse with -ale.^[7]

The word is a popular one of north-western Italy, which spread into central Italy as far as Lazio and northern Abruzzo and into southern France, as in the Waldensian form isal.^[2] DEI says it passed through Piedmontese assal into Franco-Provençal.^[6] From ⟨l'assale⟩ the article was wrongly split off (⟨la sale⟩), and the feminine was remade with ⟨-a⟩: this is sala, which spread from Emilia into Tuscan and Italian.^[2][8] asciale is another doublet.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's only Old Italian record is Mantuan axal in Belcalzer (1299–1309), in assale del cielo, the imaginary line through the celestial poles.^[9] The sense “axle of a vehicle” is first recorded in Florio's dictionary in 1611;^{[10][2][11][7][5]} Nocentini, GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word 1664.^{[10][2][11][7][5]}

Semantic evolution

In the early 17th century a naval and military notebook uses assale for the beam under a gun carriage that carries the wheels.^[12][2] Tommaseo marked the word as obsolete and said that the axle of a carriage was more commonly called sala.^[12] It revived as the technical term for the axle of motor vehicles, with phrases such as assale sterzante (1955), the steering axle.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1299–1309 – Belcalzer uses Mantuan axal for the celestial axis.^[9]
• 1611 – Florio records assale “axle”.^[10]
• Early 17th century – A naval and military notebook uses it for the axle of a gun carriage.^[2]
• 1664 – The date GRADIT and Zingarelli give.^[7][5]
• 1955 – Assale sterzante “steering axle” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mechanics) An axle: the transverse member of a vehicle that carries the load of the frame to the wheels, usually through the suspension: assale anteriore, assale posteriore.^{[7][4][13][5][14]}

Related words

• asse
• sala
• asciale
• Latin axis

Usage notes

The word is also called asse.^[14][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 3, 2679
3. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 327
7. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana