corniola

corniola¹ fruit of the cornel

Etymology tree of corniola¹

inherited borrowed derived

Italian corniolo

Italian corniola

Forms

corniola f (plural corniole)^[1] Older forms include Old Italian cormiola and Old Italian corniuola.^[2] The old word Old Italian cornia is an older name of the fruit.^[3][4]

Etymology

The word for the fruit of the cornel is inherited from Vulgar Latin *corneola, the feminine of the adjective *corneolus used as a noun.^[5] That adjective is a diminutive of Latin corneus (“of cornel trees”), from cornus (“cornel tree”).^[5][6][7] GRADIT, the TLIO, Treccani and Sabatini–Coletti take it instead as from Italian corniolo, the name of the tree.^[8][2][9][3]

Old Italian cornia continues Latin (bacca) cornea “(berry) of the cornel”.^[3][4] French formed a parallel word: French cornouille is a derivative of cornus with a suffix ⟨-ulla⟩.^[5] The tree name cornouiller was then made from it.^[5] Meyer-Lübke thought the French word itself came from Italian.^[4]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *korno- and compares Ancient Greek κράνον (krános, “cornel tree”).^[10] He thinks the match more likely a loan from a third language, perhaps from the east, from which the cherry reached Europe.^[10] Nocentini instead derives cornus from the same root as Latin cornū (“horn”), Proto-Indo-European *ker-, naming a hard material, since cornel wood is proverbially tough.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Zucchero Bencivenni's Florentine Santà of 1310, where the word names the fruit of the cornel.^[2][7] DELI's first record is the Tuscan version of Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture, about 1350.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Tuscan Crescenzi gives a recipe for very strong vinegar made from cornelian cherries picked as they begin to redden.^[12][13] Later writers on farming, such as Soderini, used them in the same way.^[12]

In the 19th century the word also named a variety of hard red cherry, a sense the GDLI marks as disused.^[13][12] The fruit stayed in literary use: Ojetti compared reddened gravel to corniole e coralli, and Quasimodo wrote of le corniole autunnali “the autumn cornelian cherries”.^[12]

Timeline

• 1310 – Zucchero Bencivenni's Santà names the fruit.^[2][7]
• c. 1350 – The Tuscan Crescenzi uses the word in a recipe for vinegar.^[11][12]
• 19th century – Corniola is also used of a kind of hard red cherry.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) The cornelian cherry, the red edible fruit of the corniolo (Cornus mas).^{[8][14][9][1]}
2. (dated) A kind of hard red cherry.^[12][13]

Word family

• corniolina

corniola² carnelian

Forms

corniola f (plural corniole)^[1] Older forms include Old Italian cornïola, Old Italian corniolla, Old Italian corniuola and Old Italian corniuolo.^[2]

Etymology

The word for the stone is learned: it is borrowed from Latin corneolus, a diminutive of corneus (“of cornel trees”), from cornus (“cornel tree”).^{[15][7][12][2]} Medieval Latin corniola is recorded in Italy in 1215, and at Rome in 1295.^[8][11] The stone was named for the likeness of its colour to that of the cornelian cherry.^[11][9][12] Gabrielli and Sabatini–Coletti derive it from the name of the fruit.^[16][3]

Tommaseo instead linked it with the French cornaline and explained the name by a likeness to horn, as Greek ὄνυξ (ónux, “nail”) names the onyx.^[13] The German Karneol belongs to the same Medieval Latin family.^[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Florentine book of precious stones from the early 14th century, where the corniola is a translucent red gem used for decoration and for its supposed healing powers.^[2] DELI dates the word to Cecco d'Ascoli, before 1327, who wrote that the carnelian soothes anger (La corniola pur mitiga l'ira).^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

Renaissance craftsmen carved the stone for seals and rings: Cellini recalls a Micheletto in Rome who was skilled at engraving corniuole, and Vasari describes a portrait of Brutus cut in a carnelian.^[12] DEI records the form corniuola from the 16th century.^[15]

By extension the word names a shell cameo with a red ground and a pale yellow relief.^[8][14][9] In geology it is also a fine-grained compact limestone of the Apennines of Umbria and the Marche, often holding fossils.^[8][9][15]

Timeline

• 1215 – Medieval Latin corniola is recorded.^[8]
• 1295 – Medieval Latin corniola is recorded at Rome.^[11]
• Early 14th century – A Florentine book of precious stones uses the Italian word.^[2]
• Before 1327 – Cecco d'Ascoli writes of the carnelian.^[11][8]
• 16th century – The form corniuola appears.^[15]
• 20th century – The word is used for a limestone of central Italy.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mineralogy) carnelian, a translucent reddish variety of chalcedony, used as a semiprecious stone.^{[8][14][3][9][1]}
2. A shell cameo with a red ground and a pale yellow relief.^[8][14][9]
3. (geology) A compact fine-grained limestone of the Umbrian and Marchigian Apennines, often with fossils.^[8][9]