canapa

Forms

canapa f (plural canape)^[1] Old Italian forms include canape, Old Italian caneva, Old Italian canova, Old Italian canopa and Old Italian canupa.^[2] A masculine or feminine canape is archaic or literary.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin canapa (“hemp”), a late form of Latin cannabis (“hemp”), which is from Ancient Greek κάνναβις (kánnabis).^[1][5][3] DELI and GRADIT start from the accusative cannabem.^[6][7] The Latin word is recorded from Varro, with the variants cannabum in Isidore and cannaba from the 3rd century, and the late form cannapis from Oribasius.^[8] DEI thought the form with ⟨p⟩, characteristically Tuscan, might have come through Etruscan.^[9]

The forms with ⟨p⟩ cover most of the Romance area: French chanvre, Occitan canebe, Catalan cànem, Romanian cînepă and Friulian ciànapa.^[5][8] The Latin word itself lives on in central and southern Italian dialects and in Sardinian cànau, and a masculine cannabus in Spanish cáñamo and Sicilian cànnavu.^[1][8][5][9]

The Greek word is of eastern origin.^[6][9] DEI says it reached the Greeks through the Scythians towards the end of the 5th century BC and passed into Celtic, and through Celtic into Germanic, which gave it to Slavic.^[9] Nocentini calls it a wandering word, traced to Sumerian kunibu, which spread to the Germanic peoples: Old High German hanaf and German Hanf.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Sienese statutes of 1301–1303, for the plant.^[2][5] DELI's first is the Tuscan translation of Palladius (about 1340): La canapa si semina all'uscita di questo mese (“Hemp is sown at the end of this month”).^[6][10]

Semantic evolution

The derivative canapo, a thick rope of hemp, is recorded earlier than the plant name itself, in a Pisan charter of the early 12th century.^[6] A place called Canaparia is recorded in the Mugello in 1073.^[11] Old Italian also used the word for the spun fibre and for cloth woven from it.^[2]

DELI dates the sense “fibre” to Leonardo (before 1519) and “coarse cloth” to Muratori (before 1750).^[6] The hemp trade gave canapaio, a hemp dealer, in a Pisan maritime statute of 1322, canapuccia, hempseed, in 1622, and canapificio, a hemp mill, in 1905.^[6] Canapa indiana is the variety from which hashish and marijuana are obtained.^[3][4][12]

Timeline

• 1073 – The place name Canaparia is recorded in the Mugello.^[11]
• Early 12th century – Canapo appears in a Pisan charter.^[6]
• 1301–1303 – First record of canapa, in Sienese statutes.^[2]
• c. 1340 – The Tuscan Palladius uses it for the plant.^[6]
• Before 1519 – Leonardo uses it for the fibre.^[6]
• Before 1750 – Muratori uses it for the cloth.^[6]
• 1905 – Canapificio is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. hemp (Cannabis sativa): a tall annual plant with a rough, hairy stem, grown for its fibre.^{[7][3][13][1]}
2. The fibre obtained from the stems of the plant.^{[7][3][13][1]}
3. A coarse, rough fabric woven from that fibre: Il grano era conservato in sacchi di canapa.^{[7][3][14][1]}
4. (botany) With a capital, the genus Cannabis.^[13]

Word family

• canapo
• canovaccio
• canapaia
• canapaio
• canapino
• canapone
• canapuccia
• canapule
• canapificio
• canapicoltura

Related words

• cannabis

Usage notes

Canapa indiana (Cannabis indica) is the variety rich in resin from which hashish and marijuana are made.^[3][14][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
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 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. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 10, 1182
9. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 711
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 614
11. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 219
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli