balia

balia¹ wet nurse

Derivations · balia¹

balio

Pronunciation

• /ˈba.lja/^[1]

Forms

balia f (plural balie)^[1] The older form is Old Italian baila, and other old spellings are Old Italian baglia and Old Italian bayla.^[2][3]

Etymology

The word for the wet nurse is inherited from Late Latin bāiula (“carrier”), the feminine of Latin bāiulus (“porter”).^[4][3][5][1] Gregory of Tours already used the Latin word for a nurse in the 6th century, and an Italian document of 1287 glosses it as nutrix.^[4][6][7]

The Latin word became Old Italian baila, which survives in the dialects, and then the present form by metathesis.^[3][8] The LEI distinguishes the syncopated *baila of Gallo-Romance, northern Italy, Friulian and Romansh from the metathesised *balia.^[9] The unsyncopated form survives only in Italo-Romance.^[9] Meyer-Lübke lists Old French baille, also “midwife”, and Old Occitan baila, and allowed that the Italian word might come from Occitan.^[10] Nocentini leaves the origin of the Latin word open.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur of the late 12th century.^[2] DELI's first record is in the accounts of Matasala (1233–1243), which note five soldi paid to the child's nurse.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the word for a midwife, up to Antonio Cammelli (before 1502).^[4][2] A nurse who stayed on in the family's service was still called balia.^[2] The masculine balio was the nurse's husband in Bandello (1554) and, earlier, a man who raised children.^[4] The word baliatico, the nurse's task and wages, is recorded in 1612.^[4]

Balia asciutta, a paid nurse who cares for a child without breastfeeding it, is recorded in 1918.^[4] Tuscan named the flycatcher balia because it visits other birds' nests for insects and seems to feed their young.^[6][7] In aeronautics a balia is a small gas balloon that keeps the gas chamber of an airship filled during construction.^[7][5]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Proverbia que dicuntur contain the first record.^[2]
• 1233–1243 – The accounts of Matasala record a payment to a balia.^[4]
• 1385 – The form baila is used by Bonavia.^[4]
• Before 1502 – Antonio Cammelli uses the word for a midwife.^[4]
• 1554 – Bandello uses balio for the nurse's husband.^[4]
• 1612 – Baliatico is recorded in the Crusca dictionary.^[4]
• 1918 – Panzini records balia asciutta.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wet nurse, a woman who breastfeeds another's child, usually for pay.^[5][11][8]
2. (by extension) A nanny: fare da balia a qualcuno, to look after someone constantly.^[5][11]
3. (obsolete) A midwife.^[8][2]
4. (aeronautics) A small balloon of lifting gas placed under an airship being built, to keep its gas chamber filled.^[5]
5. (zoology) A flycatcher, a bird of the family Muscicapidae: balia nera, balia dal collare.^[5][8]

Word family

• baliatico
• balio

balia² power, authority

Pronunciation

• /baˈli.a/^[1]

Forms

balia f (plural balie)^[1] The older form is Old Italian bailia.^[8][12]

Etymology

The word for power is borrowed from Old French baillie (“authority, lordship”), with Old Occitan bailia beside it.^[4][3][5][1] The French word is recorded in 1080.^[7] DELI and GRADIT derive it from bail (“governor”), and DEI and Gabrielli from the verb baillir (“to govern”).^{[4][5][13][14]} The Old French noun comes from Latin baiulus (“porter”), which came to mean “official”.^[3][4] The French word also gave German Ballei (“administrative district”).^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Venetian pact with Aleppo of 1207–1208.^[2] Nocentini dates the word to the early 13th century, and DELI's first record of the sense “authority, absolute power” is in Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval communes a balìa was an extraordinary board of magistrates with exceptional powers, recorded in the 14th century and in many Medieval Latin documents.^[4] The phrases Dieci di Balìa and Otto di Balìa name such boards.^[5] Dante used the word both for power (spirti / che purgan sé sotto la tua balia) and for bodily strength (che di tenersi in piè non ha balia).^[5] Today the word is used almost only in the phrase in balìa di “at the mercy of”.^[11][15]

Timeline

• 1080 – Old French baillie is recorded.^[7]
• 1207–1208 – A Venetian pact with Aleppo contains the first Italian record.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses balìa for authority.^[4]
• 1310–1313 – The word appears in statutes.^[4]
• 14th century – Giovanni Cavalcanti uses it for the communal magistracy.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) power, authority, lordship.^[5][11][8]
2. (obsolete) Bodily strength, vigour.^[5][8]
3. in balìa di: at the mercy of, in the power of.^[11][14][1]
4. (history) In some medieval communes, a magistracy with dictatorial powers that governed for a fixed time in a crisis.^[5][1]