basto

Forms

basto m (plural basti)^[1] In eastern Liguria and Tuscany, with a few southern records, the dialects have a type bastro with an inserted /r/ after /st/, as in balestra and ginestra.^[2] An old variant is imbasto.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bastum (“pack-saddle”), a word not recorded in ancient Latin that spread to nearly all the Romance languages.^[2][4][5] DELI identifies it with Late Latin bastum, found once in Lampridius in the 4th century, which the LEI, Nocentini and GRADIT gloss as “stick”.^[6][7][4][8]

The same word is French bât, Occitan bast, Catalan bast, Spanish basto, Sardinian bastu and Romansh bast.^[2][4][5] Romanian has no form of it and continues Latin sagma (“pack-saddle”) instead.^[2] DEI notes that the word is missing in southern Italy.^[9]

Most sources take it as a noun formed from *bastāre (“to carry a load”), the presumed source of bastare, and many relate this verb to Ancient Greek βαστάζω (bastázō, “to lift, carry”).^{[6][4][2][10][1]} Devoto took the Latin word straight from the Greek verb and thought the Greek itself probably Mediterranean.^[11] The origin is not settled: the LEI notes that some scholars, Corominas among them, prefer a pre-Roman source,^[2] and Meyer-Lübke held it unknown, finding a link with the Greek verb unlikely because the word belongs mainly to southern France and northern Italy.^[5] DEI looked to a pre-Latin stem also seen in Late Latin basterna (“litter”), placed the centre of the word in Provence and considered a Ligurian origin.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Italian record is in additions made after 1303 to a statute of Siena, where the word names the harness put on pack animals to hold their load.^[12] DELI's earliest Italian source is the vernacular translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture, and it cites a Medieval Latin bastus from 1295.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From about 1350 the word names both the rough padded saddle on which mules and donkeys are ridden and the frame that carries their load.^[2][6] The figurative sense of a heavy, unwelcome burden is found from Machiavelli, who died in 1527;^[6] his Decennale speaks of being freed “from under that pack-saddle that had weighed on you for sixty years” (di sotto a quel basto, / Che sessant'anni vi aveva gravati).^[13] Tommaseo's dictionary of 1865 records portare il basto, to bear the heaviest toil.^[6][10]

Other phrases followed: mettere il basto a qualcuno, to bring someone under one's control;^{[14][3][10][15]} non portare il basto, to be no one's servant; and da basto e da sella, of a person fit for any kind of work.^{[14][3][10][15]} In thieves' slang the word meant a doublet.^[6] Modern technical senses are basto rovescio, the concave gutter of a paved street, and, at sea, a beam that supports the bow wheel.^{[8][14][16][15]} In Florence basto was also the name of an old tax, the same as bastina.^[10]

German took the word as bast in the dialects of South Tyrol in the 15th century.^[17]

Timeline

• 1295 – Medieval Latin bastus is recorded.^[6]
• After 1303 – Basto appears in additions to a Sienese statute.^[12]
• c. 1350 – The vernacular Crescenzi uses basto for the pack-saddle.^[2][6]
• 15th century – German bast is recorded in South Tyrol.^[17]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses the word for an excessive burden.^[6]
• 1865 – Portare il basto is recorded in Tommaseo's dictionary.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Pack-saddle: a rough wooden saddle fixed on the back of a mule or donkey, to which the load is fastened or on which the animal is ridden: Caricarono la legna sul basto del mulo.^{[8][14][16][3]}
2. (figurative, literary) A heavy, unwelcome burden or duty: Quel lavoro era diventato un basto.^{[14][16][3][18]}
3. basto rovescio: the concave gutter of a paved street, which carries off rainwater.^{[14][16][3][18]}
4. (nautical) A beam supporting the bow wheel.^[8][15]
5. (historical) An old Florentine tax, the same as bastina.^[8][10]

Word family

• bastaio
• bastetto
• bastina
• bastiere
• imbastare

Related words

• bastare
• French bât

Usage notes

Basto is also the first person singular present of bastare (io basto, “I am enough”).^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5, 178
3. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5, 124
8. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 455
10. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
18. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana