frutta

Forms

frutta f (usually uncountable, plural frutte, diminutive (uncommon) frutterèlla)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin fructa (“fruit”), a late collective form beside Latin frūctus (“enjoyment; produce; fruit”).^[1][2][3][4] GRADIT and Treccani describe it as a Medieval Latin plural of fructum, a by-form of the classical noun, and Treccani adds that it replaced the classical word by crossing with pomum (“fruit”).^[5][6] DEI dates this collective to the 7th century and finds it in Italy, in Occitan frucha and in Old French fruite.^[7] Nocentini simply sees the classical noun given the ending ⟨-a⟩ of collective nouns.^[8] Spanish fruta has the same form.^[9]

The classical noun is formed from fruor (“to enjoy (the produce of)”) with the suffix -tus.^[4][1] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *frūg-je/o- and to Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to use”), the root also of frūx and frūmentum; since the root is found only in Germanic and Italic, its Indo-European age is open to doubt.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Lombard poet Pietro da Bescapè, 1274, for edible fruits taken together.^[2] DELI's first date is Restoro d'Arezzo, 1282,^[11] who lists the parts of plants: e li fiori, e le follie, e le frutta (“and the flowers, and the leaves, and the fruits”).^[12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used frutta for fresh fruit, for an orchard, and in the plural for the course of fruit that ended a banquet.^[2] DELI dates this last sense to Barberino, before 1348.^[11] The plural varied: frutte and fruttora stood beside frutta.^[7][13] Folgore da San Gimignano wishes for tutte l'altre frutte savorose hung in pergolas along the streets.^[12]

In Tuscany una frutta can be a single fruit, as in Collodi.^[13][5] Essere alla frutta, to be at the end of the meal, came to mean being at the end of one's strength or resources.^[13][14][15] DEI notes that frutta for table fruit is an Italianism in the restaurants of the Middle East.^[7] The word was borrowed into Albanian as frutë and Aromanian as frutã.^[1]

Timeline

• 7th century – The collective fructa appears in Latin.^[7][12]
• 1274 – Pietro da Bescapè uses frutta.^[2]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses it.^[11]
• Before 1348 – Barberino uses it for the fruit course of a meal.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. fruit, edible fruits taken together: Al mercato compro sempre la frutta di stagione.^[5][14][3]
2. The fruit course, which usually ends a meal: Dopo il secondo arrivò la frutta.^[5][3][13]
3. (regional) A single fruit.^[5][13][1]

Word family

• fruttaiolo
• fruttiera
• frutteria
• fruttame
• fruttaio

Related words

• fruttato
• frutteto
• frutticolo
• frutto
• Latin fructus

Usage notes

The plural is usually invariable;^[13][14] frutte is literary and fruttora obsolete.^[13][14] Frutta secca covers both nuts and dried fruit such as figs and prunes.^[14][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1726
8. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ 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
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana