balestra

Forms

balestra f (plural balestre)^[1] Old Italian had the masculine balestro beside the feminine, and forms such as ballestra, balesta and valestra.^[2][3] Old Genoese had barestre.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin ballistra, a form of Latin ballista (“war engine for hurling missiles; missile”) with an added ⟨-r-⟩.^[3][4][2][5] The classical word is from Greek: DELI and Zingarelli derive it from Ancient Greek βαλλίζω (ballízō, “to throw”), DEI from an unrecorded Doric form, probably of Magna Graecia, and Devoto–Oli and Treccani from βάλλω (bállō, “to throw, to hurl”).^{[3][6][7][8][9]} In Plautus the Latin word means the missile rather than the machine.^[10][3]

The ⟨-r-⟩ appears both in Greek (Procopius) and in Late Latin, as in genista beside genestra.^[3] The LEI traces ballistra to a Greek βαλλίστρα (ballístra) with an instrumental suffix.^[5] Nocentini and Devoto think of the influence of words ending in ⟨-estra⟩, such as finestra and minestra.^[5][11][12] DEI allows that the Italian form could come from Old French or Old Occitan.^[7]

The form with ⟨-r-⟩ is also Old French balestre and Old Occitan balestra.^[11][5][13] The form without it gave Catalan ballesta, Spanish ballesta and Portuguese besta.^[11][5][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the plural balesti in Uguccione da Lodi, of the early 13th century, for the crossbow.^[2][3] DELI's first record of balestra itself is a Florentine text of 1285.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The crossbow came in many sizes: a small hand crossbow (manesca) and a large one fixed in the walls of fortresses (da posta); one was drawn with a hook at the wrist, another with a stirrup.^[9][14] Distances were measured by it: a un tiro di balestra (in Old Italian a tirata di balestro) means “within a short distance”.^[2][4] A literary phrase, dare il pane con la balestra, meant to do someone a favour grudgingly.^[6][15]

Later the name went to things shaped like a bow: the leaf spring of carriages and cars (Di Giacomo, before 1934), a set of levers used to launch ships, and a printer's galley.^[3][4][8] The swallow-like bird balestruccio (Pulci, before 1484) was named after the crossbow, from the shape of its tail or its quick flight.^[3][11] German borrowed Balestra in 1728, and in fencing it names a jumping attack.^[16]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses balesti.^[2][3]
• 1235 – balestriere “crossbowman” is recorded in Siena.^[3]
• 1285 – balestra appears in a Florentine text.^[3][4]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the masculine balestro.^[3]
• Before 1484 – balestruccio “house martin” appears in Pulci.^[3]
• 1728 – German Balestra is recorded.^[16]
• Before 1934 – The sense “leaf spring” is recorded in S. Di Giacomo.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. crossbow: an old weapon with a bow fixed across a wooden stock and a device that holds and releases the string, now used in target shooting and hunting.^[4][8][17]
2. (mechanics) leaf spring: a spring of stacked steel strips used in the suspension of vehicles.^[4][8][17]
3. (nautical) A system of levers and tackle that helps start a ship sliding at its launch.^[4][8][18]
4. (printing) A tray for carrying or composing large pages; a galley.^[4][8][17]

Word family

• balestrare
• sbalestrare
• sbalestrato
• balestrata
• balestriere
• balestruccio
• balestro
• balestraio
• balestrino
• balestrone
• balestriera

Related words

• balista
• Latin ballista

Usage notes

A un tiro di balestra means “a short distance away”.^[4][9] Pesce balestra is the triggerfish (Balistidae), named for the mechanism of its dorsal spines.^[8][19] DEI treats the fish as a separate entry, from the same word.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 4, 857
6. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 414
8. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 55
13. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 7
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
17. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
18. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
19. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 8