ginepro

Forms

ginepro m (plural ginepri)^[1] Old forms include genebro (Petrarch), giunepero, ginevro and northern zenevro and çenepero.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ienĭperus, written giniperus around 800, for Latin iūnĭperus.^[2][5][6] The Appendix Probi already names the form Vulgar Latin ziniperus.^[1][7] The middle /e/ after the stress was lost as usual.^[8] The word is pan-Romance: Old French geneivre (now French genièvre), Occitan genebre, Catalan ginebre, Spanish enebro, Portuguese zimbro, Sardinian nìbberu and Romanian ienupăr.^[5][9]

The origin of the Latin word is disputed.^[2][8] Nocentini rejects Alinei's reading as “bringing forth youth”, from Latin iūni- and pariō (“to give birth”), for the evergreen plant, and compares other aromatic plant names of the Western Alps, Savoyard génépi, Romansh giop and Alemannic German juppe: Latin would then be a base shared with these names plus a suffix, of Gaulish origin.^[5] DEI sees a Mediterranean relic, comparable to Ancient Greek ἄρκευθος (árkeuthos).^[10] Others connect it with Latin iuncus (“reed”), or think the Latin form was shaped by Sabine speakers from an Umbrian word, and some compare Old Norse einir (“juniper”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin records of the 13th century come before any Italian one.^[2] The first Italian record in the TLIO is in Belcalzer's Mantuan text of 1299–1309, for the evergreen shrub whose berries were used in medicine and cooking;^[3][2] DELI's first is in Domenico Cavalca, before 1342.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the vernacular Bible has giunepero and Petrarch genebro.^[2] Old Italian also had ginepra for the berry, in Bencivenni and Boiardo.^[11]

Ginepraio, a thicket of juniper, is recorded about 1535 in Annibal Caro, and in the 16th century it took the figurative sense of a tangled, difficult situation, in Mattìo Franzesi and Benedetto Varchi.^[2] Today the word also names the essence made from the berries, used in medicine, cooking and perfume.^[12][13]

Timeline

• 1200s – The tree is recorded in Medieval Latin.^[2]
• 1299–1309 – Belcalzer uses the word in Mantua.^[3]
• 1300s – The vernacular Bible has giunepero and Petrarch genebro.^[2]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ginepro.^[2]
• c. 1535 – Annibal Caro uses ginepraio for a juniper thicket.^[2]
• 1500s – Ginepraio takes the sense “tangle, predicament”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. juniper (Juniperus communis): an evergreen coniferous shrub with stiff, prickly needle leaves and small aromatic blue-black berries.^[6][14][1]
2. (botany) The genus Juniperus of the cypress family.^[6][14][15]
3. The essence made from juniper berries, used in pharmacy, cooking and perfumery.^[12][13]

Word family

• ginepraio
• ginepreto
• gineprone

Related words

• Latin iuniperus
• French genièvre

Usage notes

Kinds include the ginepro nano, common in Italian mountains, the ginepro rosso of the Mediterranean, and the ginepro coccolone of the coasts, with large reddish-brown berries.^[16][15] The stressed vowel may be closed or open.^[1][16]

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 i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1809
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 503
12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli