cornio

Forms

cornio m (plural corni)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin corneus (“of the cornel tree”), the adjective of cornus (“cornel”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin adjective is formed with the suffix -eus and meant “of cornel trees, made of cornel wood”.^[6][1] DEI compares the Bolognese còrni.^[7] The TLIO leaves open whether the Italian word is instead formed back from its diminutive.^[8]

The same Latin source, with a suffix, gave the old or regional tree names corniale and corgnale, and corniolo was at first a diminutive of it.^[9]

The origin of the Latin tree name is debated: DELI thinks it probably pre-Indo-European, and DEI compares Ancient Greek κράνον (kránon) as a Mediterranean word.^[10][7] De Vaan too sees the Greek and Latin words as loans from a third language.^[11] Nocentini instead derives it from the root of cornū (“horn”), Proto-Indo-European *ker-, used of hard matter, after the proverbially hard wood of the tree.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Florentine translation of the Aeneid by Lancia, of 1316, for the cornel tree.^[8] Ugurgieri has “virgulti di cornio” (shoots of cornel) on a burial mound.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word has always meant the same tree as corniolo.^[8][2] The Italian Crescenzi describes it as “un piccolo arbore” (a small tree) that grows in the woods but can be domesticated by cultivation.^[5][13] An old writer cited by Tommaseo notes that its very hard wood was used by the ancients for bows and spears.^[13]

Poets kept it: Poliziano's Stanze have “nodoso il cornio” (the knotty cornel) among the trees of a wood, and Marino uses it too.^[5][2] Tommaseo marks it as no longer in use, the GDLI as disused, and GRADIT as literary.^[13][5][2] The fruit was called cornia.^[9]

Timeline

• 1316 – Lancia's Florentine Aeneid has the first record of cornio.^[8]
• c. 1350 – The Italian Crescenzi describes the cornio as a small tree that can be cultivated.^[10][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary, obsolete) The cornel tree, corniolo.^[2][3][4][1]

Related words

• corniolo
• corniola
• cornia
• corniale
• Latin cornus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
4. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 788
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1115
8. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET