ginestra

Forms

ginestra f (plural ginestre)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian genestra, Old Italian genesta and Old Italian cinestra.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin genesta, the Late Latin form of Latin genista, with the ending changed to ⟨-stra⟩.^[3][4][5][1] Devoto compares the same change in giostra and registro.^[6]

The word is pan-Romance except in Romanian: Old French genestre (modern French genêt), Occitan genesta, Catalan ginesta, Spanish hiniesta, Portuguese giesta and Sardinian binistra.^[7][8][9] It passed into Old High German genester, whence German Ginster.^[7][8] Battisti and Alessio explain the classical form, kept in Calabria and in Logudorese jinistra, as a reduction of a Ligurian–Sicanian base whose reflexes run from Umbria to Sicily.^[8]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[3][7][10] DEI calls it Mediterranean.^[8] Wiktionary mentions a comparison with Ancient Greek βάτος (bátos, “bramble”), which Beekes however takes from a substrate.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto, before 1274, for the shrub with yellow flowers.^[2] DELI's first example is Boccaccio's Decameron of 1348–1353, where the tables are found di fiori di ginestra coperta (“covered with broom flowers”).^[3][11]

Semantic evolution

The word covers several shrubs with yellow flowers and pod fruits.^[2][7] In Old Italian it once named the tamarisk.^[2] Its fibre was used for cloth: a set of statutes mentions broom cloth in 1310–1313, and L. Frescobaldi names the fibre in the 14th century.^[3][11]

Botanists separate the Spanish broom (Spartium junceum), the ginestra dei carbonai (Cytisus scoparius) and the spiny ginestrone.^[5][12][11] Leopardi addresses the plant as lenta ginestra (“pliant broom”) that will yield to the underground fire.^[11] The word was taken into Albanian, and the DIFIT records English ginestra from 1899.^[1][13]

Timeline

• Before 1274 – Brunetto Latini uses ginestra in the Tesoretto.^[2]
• 1310–1313 – A set of statutes mentions cloth of broom.^[3]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio's Decameron has fiori di ginestra.^[3][4]
• 14th century – L. Frescobaldi names the textile fibre.^[3]
• 15th century – Ginestreto, a broom thicket, is first recorded.^[7]
• 16th century – Ginestrella is first recorded.^[7]
• 1834 – Ginestrone is first recorded.^[7]
• 1899 – English ginestra is recorded.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) broom: a shrub of the pea family with very fragrant golden-yellow flowers, common around the Mediterranean, especially the Spanish broom (Spartium junceum).^[4][14][5]
2. (botany) A common name for several other shrubs of the Papilionaceae: ginestra dei carbonai, the Scotch broom.^[4][14][15]
3. (textiles) The fibre obtained by retting the stems of the Spanish broom, used for ropes, sacks and coarse cloth.^[4][15][5]

Word family

• ginestrella
• ginestreto
• ginestrino
• ginestrone
• ginestrina

Related words

• Latin genista
• French genêt
• German Ginster

Usage notes

Names of kinds include ginestra odorosa or di Spagna (the Spanish broom), ginestra dei carbonai or da scope (the Scotch broom) and ginestra spinosa (the ginestrone).^[4][5][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 202
7. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1809
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ 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. 6, 782
12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse