barbasso

Forms

barbasso m (plural barbassi)^[1] Variants are barabasso and barbasco.^[2][3][4] Tuscan has guaraguasco and guaraguasto.^[5][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin verbascum (“mullein”).^[6][2][1] Nocentini explains the ⟨b⟩ of the first syllable by attraction to barba (“beard”).^[7] The same word gave Spanish barbasco and Portuguese barbasco.^[5][7][8] Meyer-Lübke notes that the plant was used, and in places still is, to stun fish.^[5]

DELI calls the origin of verbascum unknown, and suggests that its suffix points to an ancient Ligurian dialect.^[9] The OLD too calls the word perhaps Ligurian.^[10] Nocentini and Wiktionary connect it with verbēna (“foliage”).^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first found in the compound tassobarbasso, in Zucchero Bencivenni's Florentine Santà of 1310, as the name of the medicinal plant Verbascum thapsus.^[9][11] The compound joins two Latin plant names, of the yew and the mullein, both poisonous plants.^[9] On its own barbasso is recorded from the early 19th century: before 1822 according to Sabatini–Coletti, in 1829 as barbasco according to GRADIT.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) Great mullein (Verbascum thapsus), a plant of the figwort family.^[6][2][3][1]

Related words

• tassobarbasso
• verbasco
• Latin verbascum

Usage notes

The plant is usually called tasso barbasso or tassobarbasso.^[12] Devoto–Oli marks barbasso alone as Tuscan.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)