bure

Forms

bure f (plural buri)^[1] The variant bura survives in Arezzo and in Rome.^[2][3] In Milan the diminutive Lombard burètt prevails.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin būris (“plough beam”), from the accusative, with its variant būra.^[3][2][5][1] DELI notes that it is not everywhere a learned word, though it certainly is in Alamanni;^[3][6] Zingarelli calls it learned.^[3][6] An ancient glossary defines the Latin word as the curved rear part of the plough.^[7]

The Latin word continues only in Italy and in Sardinia, as Sardinian búri, with a disputed record in the south of France.^[8] The REW adds Friulian bure and northern forms with the article grown on, such as Piedmontese abü.^[4][9]

Nocentini finds no comparison for the Latin word outside Latin, and Devoto calls it without reliable connections.^[2][10] DEI notes that the form in ⟨-a⟩ is found only in Varro, and that the wavering between the two forms might point to a borrowing.^[11] Wiktionary suggests a borrowing from Etruscan 𐌐𐌖𐌓𐌀 (pura, “plough beam”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Veronese has bora (de lo aratro) in a 13th-century grammar.^[8] The TLIO's first Tuscan record is a Latin–Aretine glossary of the mid-14th century, with the sense of the wooden or iron beam that carries the body of the plough and serves as its pole.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Cantalicio has bura del'arato after 1491, and Luigi Alamanni uses bure in his Coltivazione, listing ploughs, yokes, ploughshares, handles and buri.^[3][7][13] Florio gives burra in 1598, the form still used in Rome.^[3]

Pascoli wrote of a Roman dictator perhaps standing at the bure, and Gabrielli records a poetic use for the plough itself.^[7][14] Tommaseo gives the word as masculine, which Prati thought a mistake.^[13][15] Today it is a technical word of agriculture.^[5][16]

Timeline

• 13th century – Old Veronese bora “plough beam” is recorded.^[8]
• Mid-14th century – Bure appears in a Latin–Aretine glossary.^[12]
• After 1491 – Cantalicio writes bura del'arato.^[3]
• 1546 – The date GRADIT gives for bure.^[5]
• 1598 – Florio records burra.^[3]
• 1839 – Cherubini records Milanese burètt.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (agriculture) The beam of a plough, the central shaft to whose front the yoke is fixed.^{[5][16][17][6][1]}
2. (poetic) The plough.^[14]

Related words

• aratro
• Latin bura

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 8, 174
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 71
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 637
12. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 193
16. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
17. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse