barena

Forms

barena f (plural barene)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Venetian barena, from baro (“tuft of grass, bush; uncultivated land”).^[2][3][4][1] According to DELI, Nocentini, Prati and GRADIT, that word is from Gaulish *barros (“grassy tuft, bush”), which Nocentini compares with Irish bar.^[2][3][5][6] Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli give the Gaulish source only as likely, and the GDLI calls the word perhaps pre-Latin.^[7][8][9] The DEI instead derives it from a Mediterranean base ⟨*barrena⟩, formed like Latin harena (“sand”) with a suffix common in substrate words, and compares Friulian bar (“bush”) and Triestine barédo (“bush”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded in a Medieval Latin document from Chioggia in 1306, and in Venetian in the poet Busenello, before 1659: Ma, poeta coccàl, canto in barena (“but I, a seagull poet, sing on the mudbank”).^[2][10] The first Italian record is in C. Cattaneo in 1836, who explains that the ridges of the lagoon floor covered only by the highest tides are called barene.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

In 1935 Panzini still described barena as a Venetian word.^[2] The Venetian annals of Malipiero have baro delle erbe for the herb market in 1499.^[2] The word is used along the Adriatic coast of Venice and Romagna, for the flat banks of clay and sand left by river deposits.^[9][11] D'Annunzio brought it into literature, writing of the shallows when le barene appariscono, and Ojetti and Bacchelli used it too.^[10][9]

Timeline

• 1306 – The word is recorded in a Medieval Latin document from Chioggia.^[2]
• 1499 – Malipiero's annals have Venetian baro in baro delle erbe.^[2]
• Before 1659 – The Venetian poet Busenello uses barena.^[2]
• 1836 – C. Cattaneo uses the word in Italian.^[2]
• 1935 – Panzini lists it as a Venetian word.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geography) A low mudbank or salt marsh in a lagoon, with grass and reeds, that stands out of the water at low tide and is covered only by the highest tides: Dalla barca vedevamo gli aironi sulle barene.^{[6][7][4][11][12]}

Related words

• Venetian baro

Usage notes

The word for the lagoon bank has a closed /e/.^[7][11] A barena with an open /ɛ/ is a variant of bareno, a boring bar, and also names the boring machine that uses it (from 1950).^[7][4][8] It goes back to Spanish barrena (“drill”) and has a separate source.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 114
6. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 439
11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli