celata

Forms

celata f (plural celate)^[1][2]

Etymology

The origin of the word is uncertain.^[3][1][4] DELI finds the likeliest proposal the one in the Academy dictionary: borrowed from Medieval Latin caelāta, short for a phrase meaning “engraved helmet”, with cassis (“helmet”) and the participle of caelō (“to engrave, chase”).^[3][5] DEI accepts it, and dates the Medieval Latin word from 1350.^[6][3]

Meyer-Lübke rejected caelō, since the sense does not fit and the word appears only in the 15th century.^[7] Like Prati, he derives it from celare (“to hide”), with its starting point in northern Italy or Spain.^[7][8] Nocentini prefers this view too, citing the parallel of German Helm (“helmet”), from Old High German helan (“to hide”).^[9] Körting objected that such a participle could only mean “hidden”, not “hiding”.^[5] Migliorini and Duro, and Devoto, derive it instead from cielo in the sense “vault”: a strongly arched helmet, or one strengthened at the top.^[3][10] Treccani follows them.^[3][10][11]

The GDLI takes it from Spanish celada, from celar (“to cover, hide”), since the headpiece first protected the face.^[12] It notes that Catalan celada, recorded in 1429, gave Old Occitan salada (1495) and French salade.^[12] DEI thinks the Spanish word may itself come from northern Italian, the probable source of the French word and of Middle Dutch salade.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin cellata is recorded at Turin in 1417, and celata at Teramo in 1440.^[3] GRADIT's first Italian record is the old variant zelada in 1442, and DELI's is celata in a letter of Martelli of 1448, for the piece of armour that protects the head, lighter than the elmo.^[1][3] DEI dates it at Verona in 1450.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The celata was a light helmet without crest or crown, in use from the 15th century until the end of the 17th.^[2][11] Machiavelli describes una celata che veniva infino in sulle spalle (“a sallet that came down to the shoulders”), and Ariosto's knight trattasi la celata ch'avea in testa (“took off the helmet he had on his head”).^[12] By metonymy the word also named the man-at-arms who wore one.^[2][6]

GRADIT notes a looser use for the movable visor of a helmet.^[1] In recent decades the word has named the clear plastic visor of police and motorcyclists' helmets.^[1][13][2] French borrowed it as salade (1417), and used it for a soldier in a sallet from 1557.^[14]

Timeline

• 1417 – Medieval Latin cellata is recorded at Turin.^[3] French salade is recorded the same year.^[3][14]
• 1440 – Celata appears in Medieval Latin at Teramo.^[3]
• 1442 – The old variant zelada is recorded.^[1]
• 1448 – Martelli uses celata.^[3][2]
• 1450 – DEI's record from Verona.^[6]
• 1557 – French salade is used for a soldier wearing a sallet.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A light helmet without cimiero or crest, the sallet, used from the 15th to the 17th century.^[1][2][11]
2. (by extension) The movable visor of a helmet, lowered to protect the face.^[1][13]
3. The clear plastic visor of the helmets used by the police and by motorcyclists: Il poliziotto alzò la celata per parlare.^[1][13][2]
4. (obsolete) A man-at-arms wearing such a helmet.^[2][4]

Word family

• celatina
• celatone

Related words

• elmo
• Spanish celada
• French salade

Usage notes

Celata is also the feminine past participle of celare “to hide”.^[15] Old Italian used it as a noun for concealment, especially the secrecy of courtly love, and for an ambush.^[16][17][4] DEI also lists an old Paduan celata “underground passage” (917), from the same verb, and a Calabrian celata, a twelfth of a tomolo, probably from Byzantine Greek.^[6][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
6. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 842
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ 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, 946
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
17. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
18. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Marcato, Carla (1998), I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Torino: UTET