coltrice

Forms

coltrice f (plural coltrici)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin culcitra (“mattress”), with metathesis of the consonants.^[2][3][1][4] culcitra is a variant of Latin culcita (“cushion, mattress”), found in Petronius and in glossaries.^[5][6][1] DEI explains the reversal of the consonants by the influence of coltre;^[7] Devoto and Sabatini–Coletti posit Vulgar Latin *cultrex, *cultricis.^[6][8][7] Medieval Latin records colcitra at Rome in 1027 and 1324 and cultrice in the Cicolano in 1252, and the GDLI cites a form from the Codex Cavensis of 845.^[6][9]

The Latin word has other Romance descendants: Ragusan colchitra, Gardenese coutre, Old French coutre (modern French couette), Old Occitan cosera, Old Spanish colcedra and modern Spanish colcha.^[10][6]

The origin of Latin culcita is unknown.^[11][8] De Vaan rejects the comparison with a Sanskrit word for a bunch of grass, which the OLD gives.^[11][5] Wiktionary lists Varro's derivation from calcō (“to trample”) and two Indo-European proposals.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Sienese document of 1221.^[12] DELI dates the word from Giordano da Pisa in 1304, as a mattress stuffed with wool or feathers, or a bed.^[2] Fra Giordano asks why one makes mattresses, and answers: to entice sleep and to rest.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The GDLI's quotations from the 14th to the 16th century use the word for a mattress of feathers or wool.^[9] The translation of Crescenzi notes that certain feathers are good for mattresses, and the Piovano Arlotto found two of his mattresses spoiled by mice.^[9][13]

In later use the word became literary.^[3][4] Manzoni wrote of God who “sulla deserta coltrice / accanto a lui posò” (lay down beside him on the lonely bed).^[3][14][4] A coltriciaio made mattresses from the 16th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 845 – Medieval Latin form in the Codex Cavensis.^[9]
• 1221 – First Italian record, in a Sienese document.^[12]
• 1304 – Giordano da Pisa.^[2][3]
• 16th century – Coltriciaio, mattress-maker.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A mattress, especially one stuffed with wool or feathers.^[3][14][15]
2. (literary, by extension) A bed, a place to lie.^[3][14][15]

Word family

• coltriciaio

Related words

• coltre
• materasso
• Latin culcita
• French couette

Usage notes

Coltrice is also an obsolete feminine of coltore, a woman who tills the land, a learned borrowing of Latin cultrix; the TLIO's record is in Boccaccio's commentary on Dante (1373–1374).^[12][6][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1023
7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 103
9. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 333
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it, p. 9, 399
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 1514
14. ^ 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
15. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli