brina

Forms

brina f (plural brine)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pruīna (“hoarfrost, rime”), with the initial ⟨b⟩ probably taken from brūma (“winter, winter cold”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Meyer-Lübke found Diez's derivation from vapor (“steam”) difficult in both form and meaning.^[6] DEI places the inherited form in central and northern Italy and in France and notes Medieval Latin brina in 1235.^[7]

The same Latin word gave Lombard prina, Romansh purdine, Old French broine (12th century) and French bruine “freezing drizzle”.^[6][8][9]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *pruswo- (“freezing”) and a noun Proto-Indo-European *prus-wo- (“sprinkling, drop”), kept in a Sanskrit word for a drop of dew.^[10] Following Hamp, the Latin form came about through dissimilation of an earlier *prusuīna.^[10] Nocentini and Wiktionary compare Old High German friosan (“to freeze”) and the English word freeze, from PIE *prews- (“to freeze”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Restoro d'Arezzo in 1282, for the ice crystals that form on cold nights when the water vapour of the air freezes.^[11][12] DELI's first examples are Dante (1300–1313) and Onesto da Bologna (before 1303). Dante's simile shows the hoarfrost copying on the ground “the image of her white sister”, the snow: quando la brina in su la terra assempra / l'imagine di sua sorella bianca.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word in figures: a thought that leaves the heart cold to divine love, and white paper described as albe brine.^[11] From the 17th century it also meant the first white hair, a sense DELI dates to Francesco Bracciolini (1618).^[2] Poets used it for a white complexion, as Tasso does when he sets le fresche brine under the roses of a face.^[5][12]

The verb brinare is recorded at Bologna in the 14th century, and brinata in the 14th-century Ovid translation.^[2][8] Simintendi (before 1333) uses it for the hoarfrost itself.^[2][8] Refrigeration brought a new sense, the ice that forms on the walls of cold rooms, and with it the verb sbrinare “to defrost” and its derivatives.^[13][8]

Timeline

• 1235 – Medieval Latin brina is recorded.^[7]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo has the first Italian record.^[11]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the word in the Commedia.^[2]
• 14th century – Brinare is recorded at Bologna and brinata in the Ovid translation.^[2]
• 1618 – Bracciolini uses brina for the first white hair.^[2]
• 1956 – Sbrinatore “defroster” is first recorded.^[8]
• 1959 – Sbrinamento “defrosting” is first recorded.^[8]
• 1963 – Sbrinare “to defrost” is first recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. hoarfrost, rime: fine grains or needles of ice formed when dew or water vapour freezes on cold nights: Al mattino i tetti erano bianchi di brina.^{[3][13][4][12]}
2. The ice that builds up on the walls of cold rooms and freezers.^[13]
3. (figurative, literary) The first white hair.^{[3][13][4][12]}
4. (figurative, poetic) A white complexion.^{[3][13][5][12]}

Word family

• brinare
• brinata
• brinoso
• sbrinare
• sbrinamento
• sbrinatore
• antibrina

Related words

• pruina
• bruma
• French bruine

Usage notes

Brina is the popular form beside the learned pruina.^[4][7] Medicine uses the phrase brina uremica.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 601
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 382
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier