coriandolo

Forms

coriandolo m (plural coriandoli)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian coriandro (“coriander”) + -olo, from the older, now disused name of the plant, with the second /r/ lost by dissimilation of the two liquids.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} DELI, Nocentini and Zingarelli derive it straight from Latin coriandrum.^[6][7][8] Early forms also include Old Italian curiandolo and southern Old Italian cogllandri.^[9][10]

The Latin word is from Ancient Greek κορίανδρον (koríandron), a variant of the commoner κορίαννον (koríannon), a substrate word for the herb and its fruit, which are native to the eastern Mediterranean.^[7] DELI calls it pre-Indo-European, and DEI an Aegean relic, judging by its ending.^[6][11] Mycenaean tablets already record it in spellings such as ⟨ko-ri-ja-da-na⟩, and Beekes takes the cluster in it as a sign of a Pre-Greek word.^[1] A link with κόρις (kóris, “bedbug”), for the smell of the leaves, has also been proposed.^[1] Latin also had a dissimilated coliandrum.^[11]

The Romance cognates are Catalan seliandria, Spanish culantro and Portuguese coentro.^[12][7][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Neapolitan Regimen Sanitatis of the 13th century, for the plant whose seed, whole or ground, was used as a spice and a medicine.^[9][7] DELI's first example is from Franco Sacchetti, before 1400.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the Renaissance coriander seeds were coated with sugar to make comfits: Soderini, before 1597, describes them, and these comfits were thrown at Carnival.^[6][7] By analogy the name passed to small balls of plaster made in some Italian towns to be thrown at people during the Carnival, recorded in 1811.^[6][13] In about 1875 these were replaced by discs of coloured paper, an invention attributed to one Mangilli of Crescenzago near Milan, who used the discs punched out of the sheets for silkworm eggs.^[6][11] Panzini records the paper coriandoli in 1908.^[6][11]

In Piedmont the same word, as Piedmontese cojendra, names the hackberry tree.^[11][12] The derivative coriandolarizzazione is recorded in 1999.^[2]

Timeline

• 1200s – The Neapolitan Regimen Sanitatis names the plant.^[9]
• 1310 – Zingarelli's first date for coriandolo.^[8]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses the word.^[6]
• Before 1597 – Soderini describes sugar-coated coriander seeds.^[6]
• 1811 – L. Baggi uses coriandoli for plaster pellets thrown at Carnival.^[6]
• 1875 – Paper discs replace the plaster pellets.^[6]
• 1908 – Panzini's dictionary records paper coriandoli.^[6]
• 1999 – Coriandolarizzazione is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) coriander (Coriandrum sativum), an annual herb of the umbellifer family whose aromatic fruits are used in cooking, liqueurs and medicine; also its seed.^{[2][3][14][8]}
2. A sugared comfit with a coriander seed inside.^[2][3][8]
3. (usually plural) confetti: each of the small discs of coloured paper thrown at people at Carnival: dopo la sfilata la piazza era piena di coriandoli.^{[2][3][14][15]}
4. Coriander oil, the essential oil from the fruits, used as a carminative.^[2]

Word family

• coriandolarizzazione

Related words

• coriandro
• Latin coriandrum
• Spanish culantro

Usage notes

Coriandolo selvatico is a related wild umbellifer (Bifora radians), with an even stronger smell.^[2][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 331
11. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1109
12. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana