farinoso

Forms

farinoso (feminine farinosa, masculine plural farinosi, feminine plural farinose)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin farīnōsus, formed on farīna (“flour”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Zingarelli calls it a learned word, Wiktionary inherited.^[6][1] The TLIO and the GDLI derive it within Italian, from Italian farina, and the GDLI compares French farineux, recorded in 1539.^[7][8]

The Latin word for “flour” comes from an older *farrīna, from far (“emmer wheat, grain”).^[1][9] De Vaan reconstructs a stem Proto-Indo-European *bʰars- for Italic and Slavic, perhaps borrowed from a non-Indo-European language.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Nadal's Leandreride (1381–1383), a Tuscan-Venetian poem, where farinoso means “sprinkled with flour”.^[7][10] The sense “made of flour, like flour” is first found in Luigi Pulci, before 1484.^[10][8]

Semantic evolution

Pulci's miller expects to come back farinoso, covered in flour.^[8] Mattioli's Dioscorides describes a substance that crumbles at a touch as farinosa, the sense of having the look or texture of flour that the word has kept.^[8] Tommaseo records patate più o meno farinose, the use of grains and fruits that contain flour or starch, and the botanical sense of leaves with a whitish bloom.^[11]

Modern dictionaries add the starchy albumen of seeds, plants or leaves covered with fine white hairs, and powdery snow.^[3][4][12] Colombi farinosi are a breed of pigeons with feathered feet and a silver-grey coat.^[12]

Timeline

• 1381–1383 – Nadal uses farinoso for “sprinkled with flour” in the Leandreride.^[7][10]
• Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses the word.^[10][3]
• 1539 – French farineux is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having the look or texture of flour; mealy, floury: mele farinose.^{[3][4][6][12]}
2. That crumbles into powder: neve farinosa, powder snow.^[3][4][5]
3. Sprinkled with flour; floured.^[3][4][13]
4. Of a cereal: that yields flour.^[3][4][12]
5. (botany) Of the albumen of seeds: rich in starch; starchy.^[3][4][12]
6. (botany) Of a plant, leaf or other organ: covered with many short white hairs, as if floured.^[3][4][12]

Related words

• farina
• infarinare
• Latin farīna
• French farineux

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
8. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli