gabbro

Forms

gabbro m (plural gabbri)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *gabrum (“bare, without vegetation”), a popular form of Latin glaber (“smooth, hairless”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The first ⟨l⟩ was lost by dissimilation of ⟨gl…br⟩ to ⟨g…br⟩, and ⟨-br-⟩ was doubled after the stress.^[6][7][8] DELI compares the synonym pelato “bald, bare”.^[2] Treccani and Wiktionary explain the rock's name through an old sense “uncultivated, barren land”.^[9][1] REW gives the Tuscan sense as barren, greenish-black ground rich in magnesium.^[10] DEI compares Old Galician-Portuguese gravo and the Venetian place name ⟨Giàvera⟩, recorded in 994–996 as ⟨Glavera⟩.^[11]

DEI and the Italian encyclopedia say that the geologist Leopold von Buch gave the name to the rock in 1810, after the hills of Gabbro south of Livorno.^[11][2] DELI answers that older records disprove this, unless it means that a common noun took on a technical sense.^[2] Etymonline dates von Buch's use to 1809 and calls the word obscure in origin.^[12]

De Vaan reconstructs Latin glaber as Proto-Indo-European *gʰl̥h₂dʰ-ro- (“smooth”), related to Old High German glat (“smooth, shiny”).^[13][14] Wiktionary calls this uncertain.^[1] The learned doublet is glabro.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record of the common noun is the Legge generale del sale of 1701.^[2] The place name ⟨Montegabro⟩, recorded in 1052 in the Arno valley, shows the word much earlier.^[2][15] Tommaseo quotes the salt law on land that is inculti e sodi, la maggior parte gabbri e macchie (“uncultivated and untilled, mostly gabbri and scrub”), used for pasture.^[16]

Semantic evolution

In Tuscany the word named barren ground of a dark green colour, rich in magnesium, a sense Zingarelli and Gabrielli still give.^[17][18][11] It became the geological name of a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock of plagioclase and pyroxene, grey, dark green or black.^[4][6][9] Some varieties are used as ornamental stone, such as the black granite of Anzola in the Ossola.^[7]

Through geology the word spread to other languages: French gabro in 1778, English gabbro in 1837 according to the OED, and German Gabbro in 1879.^[19] Etymonline dates the English word to 1823.^[12]

Timeline

• 1052 – The place name ⟨Montegabro⟩ is recorded.^[2]
• 1701 – Gabbro appears in the Legge generale del sale.^[2]
• 1778 – French gabro is recorded.^[19]
• 1809–1810 – Leopold von Buch uses the name for the rock.^[12][11]
• 1823 – First English record, according to Etymonline.^[12]
• 1879 – German Gabbro is recorded.^[19]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geology) gabbro, a coarse-grained intrusive rock of basic plagioclase and pyroxene, grey, dark green or black.^[4][6][5][1]
2. (agriculture) Barren, dark green ground rich in magnesium.^[17][18]

Word family

• gabbrico
• gabbreto

Related words

• glabro
• Latin glaber

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1744
12. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 475
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
17. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
18. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
19. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it