diaspro

Forms

diaspro m (plural diaspri)^[1] Forms in the old texts include Old Italian diaspo, Old Italian diaspido, Old Italian iaspide and Old Italian iaspis.^[2]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Medieval Latin diasprum, recorded at Ravenna in 1249.^{[3][4][5][1][6]} Most sources take the Medieval Latin form as an inexact transcription or a reshaping of Latin iaspis (“jasper”), from Ancient Greek ἴασπις (íaspis);^[3][4][7][1] others analysed it as a compound of διά (diá, “through, at intervals”) and ἄσπρος (áspros, “white”).^[3] The GDLI sees in ⟨di⟩ a spelling of the sound /j/ of a Latin variant of the word, and Devoto a blend of the Latin word with asper.^[8][9] The TLIO notes that Du Cange records Medieval Latin diasprus only as the name of a fabric, and that the forms without /r/, such as diaspo, are of uncertain origin.^[2]

The form with ⟨di⟩ is shared by Old French diaspre, Old Occitan diaspre, Spanish diáspero and Portuguese diaspro, beside French jaspe.^{[10][11][4][12]}

The Greek word is an Eastern loan, which Nocentini calls Semitic;^[4][1] Wiktionary compares Biblical Hebrew יָשְׁפֵה (yāšəfēh, “jasper”) and an Akkadian name of a stone, and suggests an Egyptian source.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is diaspado in a Venetian will of 1263, and diaspro itself is in Restoro d'Arezzo in 1282.^[3][2][5] In the TLIO's first sense it is a precious stone of many colours with extraordinary powers.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian texts credit the stone with healing powers: the Italian Pietro Ispano says that the stone called diaspro, held where blood flows, stops it.^[13][14] Restoro speaks of spotted diaspri di pantera.^[13][2] The name also passed to a precious silk fabric, as in Old French and Old Occitan diaspre;^[2][12] Medieval Latin diasprum in this sense is recorded at Venice in 1265 and at Rome in 1295.^[2][12]

Its hardness made it a figure for a hard heart: Dante writes of a lady who veste sua persona d'un dïaspro, “clothes herself in jasper”, and Tasso of a man whose soul is as hard as jasper.^[14][15][5] Diaspro nero was the touchstone.^[13] Modern mineralogy uses the word for an opaque, finely crystalline quartz of various colours, today used for minor gems and inlay.^[7][15]

Timeline

• 1249 – Medieval Latin diasprum is recorded at Ravenna.^[3]
• 1263 – Diaspado appears in a Venetian will.^[3][2]
• 1265 – Medieval Latin diasprum “silk fabric” is recorded at Venice.^[12]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses diaspro.^[3][5]
• 1700s – The adjective diasprino appears.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mineralogy) jasper: a hard, opaque, finely crystalline quartz of various colours, often banded or spotted, used as an ornamental stone.^[5][7][6][1]
2. (literary, figurative) A very hard stone; hardness of heart, firmness of character.^{[5][6][15][1]}

Word family

• diasprato
• diasprino

Related words

• iaspide
• French jaspe
• Latin iaspis

Usage notes

DEI lists a separate 19th-century diaspro, the mineral diaspore, from French diaspore, a name that Haüy took from Greek in 1801.^[12] The GDLI records an obsolete diaspro, a short polemical newspaper item, named after the gem-shaped asterisk that headed it.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1283
13. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 330
14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)