cerro

Forms

cerro m (plural cerri)^[1] Old Tuscan also has Old Italian cierro.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cerrus (“Turkey oak”).^[3][4][1][2] The Latin word was rare.^[2] Outside Italian it survives in Romanian cer, recorded from 1334, which passed on to the South Slavic languages and Hungarian.^[2][5][6]

Its earlier origin is disputed.^[3][6] DELI and Zingarelli call it pre-Indo-European.^[3][7] DEI and the GDLI see a Mediterranean word, “the oak of stony ground”, from a Mediterranean word for stone also behind Spanish carrasca and Basque haritz (“oak”).^[8][9] Hubschmid, followed by the LEI, calls it Eurafrican, and the OLD thinks of a Hamitic source.^[2][10] Schuchardt derived it from Berber, and Meyer-Lübke compares a Berber and an Arabic word for the evergreen oak.^[1][5] Nocentini, on the other hand, finds it inseparable from quercus (“oak”), through a metathesised variant *cerquus.^[6] Devoto saw no reliable connections.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Ristoro d'Arezzo in 1282, for the tall tree of the oak family with oblong lobed leaves and acorns in cups of free, narrow scales.^[3][12]

Semantic evolution

Giamboni's translation of Vegetius, before 1292, mentions cerri selvatichi, and Dante uses the word around 1319.^[2] The Italian Crescenzi groups it with the other great oaks: La quercia, il rovere, il cerro sono arbori grandi (“the oak, the durmast and the Turkey oak are great trees”).^[13] The sense “wood of the Turkey oak” is recorded in Ariosto in 1532.^[3] The wood is used for barrels, wheel spokes and charcoal.^[14] The acorns fed pigs, and the bark and cups, rich in tannin, served for tanning hides.^[14][15]

Cerreto, a wood of Turkey oaks, is recorded in the first half of the 14th century and cerreta in the 18th.^[6] Cerreto is also a frequent place name.^[16] The surname Cerro comes from places named after the tree.^[1]

Timeline

• 1282 – Ristoro d'Arezzo has the first record.^[3][12]
• Before 1292 – Giamboni's Vegetius mentions cerri selvatichi.^[2]
• c. 1319 – Dante uses the word.^[2]
• Early 14th century – Cerreto “wood of Turkey oaks” is recorded.^[6]
• 1532 – Ariosto uses cerro for the wood.^[3]
• 18th century – Cerreta is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) The Turkey oak (Quercus cerris), a tall deciduous oak of southern Europe with oblong lobed leaves and acorns in cups covered with long, loose scales.^[4][14][15]
2. The reddish, elastic wood of this tree, used for barrels, wheel spokes and charcoal.^[3][14][17]

Word family

• cerreto
• cerreta
• cerracchio
• cerracchione
• cerruto

Related words

• quercia
• Latin cerrus

Usage notes

An obsolete cerro of separate origin means a curl or lock of hair, and also a fringe.^[9][7] It comes from Latin cirrus (“curl, tuft”), or from a variant *cerrus that DEI and the GDLI infer from a glossed bicerris (“with two tufts”).^{[12][8][9][7]} The TLIO's first record of it is Dante's Commedia, before 1321, while GRADIT dates it before 1639.^[12][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. 13, 1154
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 872
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d 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 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 Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
17. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse