farinaio

Forms

farinaio m (plural farinai)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian farina + -aio, “a place for flour”, according to GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and the GDLI.^[2][3][4][1] Sabatini–Coletti and the Zingarelli instead derive it from Late Latin farinarium, and the Zingarelli calls it a learned word.^[5][6] Wiktionary allows that it may correspond to Latin farīnārius (“of or for flour”).^[1][7]

The base noun, “flour”, is from Latin farīna, itself from far (“spelt”).^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Zingarelli dates the word before 1557, in the sense of a merchant who bought grain, had it milled and sold the flour, a sense it marks as obsolete.^[6] The sense of a room or place where flour is kept is dated 1830.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a dealer in flour has not survived.^[6] The GDLI defines the word as a room for storing flour and marks it as disused, quoting Carena's definition, a place where flour is put away and kept.^[4] Devoto–Oli specifies a room where bakers keep their flour, and GRADIT counts the word as rare (basso uso).^[3][2]

Timeline

• Before 1557 – First recorded, for a flour merchant.^[6]
• 1830 – Recorded for the place where flour is stored.^[2][3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (uncommon) A room or place where flour is stored, especially by bakers.^[2][3][5][4]
2. (obsolete) A merchant who bought grain, had it milled and sold the flour.^[6]

Related words

• farina
• farinaiola
• -aio
• Latin farinarius

Usage notes

The GDLI also records farinaiola, a wooden vessel used to flour food before cooking it.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 5, 687
5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier