baro

Forms

baro m (plural bari)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3][4] Nocentini and the LEI hold that it is inherited from Latin baro (“blockhead, lout”), a word recorded from Lucilius and Cicero, continued in the form of the nominative or, Nocentini thinks, the vocative.^[5][6][7] Prati thought it a late borrowing of the Latin word with a shifted sense.^[8] The LEI puts the sense of rogue and swindler beside forms meaning simply “man” in the northern dialects, such as Piedmontese baro (“well-off countryman”), and treats the Latin word as the base of the Romance words for “man” as well.^[6]

In late Latin the word also meant a mercenary or a man fit for arms, the sense behind barone.^[5] Its Romance outcomes split into opposite directions: Old French baron (“husband”), Spanish varón (“male”) and Old Catalan baró (“grown man”) show a neutral sense of “male person”, which became “nobleman” in France and “cheat” in Italy.^[5][6] DELI finds the only acceptable link to be the same noun in its pejorative sense, and GRADIT, Sabatini–Coletti and Gabrielli also connect it with that word.^{[2][3][9][10]} Devoto–Oli sees a crossing of the Latin word with Frankish *barō (“free man”), the man of a higher class and so the bully.^[11][12] Meyer-Lübke listed the Italian word under the Latin word as a back-formation.^[13]

The origin of the Latin word is itself unknown: the OLD calls it Etruscan, and Wiktionary compares bardus (“stupid”).^[14][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Florentine poet Burchiello, who died in 1449, with the sense of swindler: barattier, baro, in abito arcivesco (“a cheat, a swindler in an archbishop's robe”).^[2][15][5] At Verona the word is recorded in the 14th century.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th and 16th centuries the form barro was common beside baro: Masuccio Salernitano has barri before 1476, and Aretino and Francesco D'Ambra use it for a con man.^[2][15][8] Ariosto prefers a coarse coat to golden clothes that carry the name of baro or traitor.^[15] The specific sense of a cheat at cards appears in Giuseppe Baretti in 1764, in the phrase baro da carte.^[2] Giuseppe Giusti used it as an adjective in lingua bara, the slang of the underworld.^[2][7]

The verb barare, to cheat at cards or dice, is recorded before 1569, with the form barrare in 1544, and bareria, fraud, about 1505 in Leonardo da Vinci.^[2] An older Italian baro meaning “male, man” occurs only as a gloss of Old Occitan bar in an early 14th-century glossary.^[16]

Timeline

• 14th century – Baro is recorded at Verona.^[2][6]
• Before 1449 – Burchiello uses baro for a swindler.^[2][5]
• Before 1476 – Masuccio Salernitano has the form barri.^[2]
• About 1505 – Leonardo da Vinci uses bareria, fraud.^[2]
• 1544 – The verb appears as barrare;^[2] barare follows before 1569.^[2]
• 1764 – Giuseppe Baretti writes baro da carte, a card cheat.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cardsharp, one who cheats at games of chance, especially at cards: Al circolo l'hanno scoperto: era un baro.^[3][4][7][1]
2. (by extension) A swindler, a cheat.^[3][4][9][1]
3. (adjective) Cruel, hostile, in destino cinico e baro, a cynical and cheating fate.^[3]

Word family

• barare
• bareria

Related words

• barone
• Latin baro

Usage notes

The feminine is bara, and the plural bari.^[11][9][1] Baro is also the first person singular present of barare (io baro, I cheat).^[17] Devoto–Oli notes that the word always carries a severe moral judgement.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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, 1401
7. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 116
9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 76
16. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
17. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org