granata

granata¹ broom

Pronunciation

• /ɡraˈna.ta/^[1]

Forms

granata f (plural granate)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the broom is named after the panicles of sorghum with round seeds that it is made of, as Prati first explained.^[2][3] Most dictionaries take it as from Italian granato (“grainy”), the feminine of the adjective used as a noun, with scopa (“broom”) understood.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} DELI, following Flückiger, starts instead from Vulgar Latin *grānāria, understood with scōpa (“broom”), with a change of suffix; some southern dialect types confirm it.^[2] Northern dialects have related brooms with other suffixes, such as granera at Reggio and garnera at Crema.^[9]

Behind both is grānum (“grain, seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵrh₂-no- (“grain”).^[4][10] Körting derived it instead from a Germanic word for “moustache”, Old High German grana.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Florentine document of 1287, the register of the Servite convent of the Santissima Annunziata, for a broom made of bundles of dried sorghum tied round a stick.^[2][12][5]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio already uses granata in the household sense: vegnano le granate, ché la casa si spazzi (“let the brooms come, so that the house is swept”).^[8][13] In popular legend it was also the broom on which witches fly.^[14]

The word has stayed mainly Tuscan; elsewhere scopa is the usual word.^[8][15] Familiar phrases build on it: dipingere con la granata “to paint with a broom”, crudely;^[8][16][5] benedire col manico della granata “to bless with the broom handle”, to beat;^[8][16][5] essere di casa più che la granata, to be completely at home somewhere.^[8][16][5] Treccani also gives it as the name of a plant grown to make yard brooms, Kochia scoparia, and Tommaseo records Modenese granada for a similar plant.^[8][13]

Timeline

• 1287 – Granata “broom” is recorded in a register of a Florentine convent.^[2][12]
• 1364 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Tuscany) A broom made of bundles of dried sorghum or other twigs tied to the end of a stick: Prendi la granata e spazza il cortile.^{[5][7][15][8]}
2. (botany) Summer cypress (Kochia scoparia), an annual plant grown to make brooms.^[8][17]

Word family

• granataio
• granatino

granata² pomegranate; grenade

Etymology tree of granata²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin grānum

French grain

Italian grana

Italian grano

Romanian grâu

Spanish grano

Latin grānātus

Latin grānātum

Italian granata

Spanish granada

From the same root · granata²

English gram ← grānum

Latin grānārium ← grānum

Italian granaio ← grano

Pronunciation

• /ɡraˈna.ta/^[1]

Forms

granata f (plural granate)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the pomegranate is inherited from Latin grānāta (“pomegranates”), the neuter plural of the Latin name of the fruit, understood with mālum (“apple, fruit”) and taken as a feminine singular.^[2][5][18] The Latin name meant “grainy fruit”, as Columella explains, and Pliny already records the name for the fruit known near Carthage as mālum Pūnicum (“Punic apple”).^[2][18] It comes from the adjective grānātus (“full of seeds”), from grānum (“grain, seed”).^[1][2] Nocentini instead treats the word as an Italian formation from grana (“grain”), and Treccani and Devoto–Oli as short for mela granata.^[4][8][6] The same Latin word gave Spanish granada.^[9]

The grenade, a hollow iron ball filled with powder, was named after the fruit, which it resembled; it was at first also full of grains of powder.^[2][5][8] This sense grew out of the fruit's name, but DELI gives it a head of its own, as do GRADIT and Zingarelli.^[2][5][15] French grenade in this sense, from 1520, comes from Italian according to Meyer-Lübke, and the English word grenade from French; German Granate was taken from Italian.^{[9][18][19][1]}

The dark red of the seeds gave the colour adjective and the name of the garnet, the stone (also granato).^[5][4][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Neapolitan Regimen Sanitatis of the 13th century, for the fruit of the pomegranate tree.^[12] DELI's first record is in Zucchero Bencivenni, in the 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century granata also named the dark red gem, the garnet, first in the Libro di Sydrac;^[2][12][14] Manzoni replaced un vezzo di granate “a string of garnets” of 1827 with granati in his revision.^[2][12][14]

The military sense appears in the early 17th century, first as palle granate (1612) and then as granata alone (1614).^[2] DEI credits the invention to Pandolfo Malatesta in the 15th century.^[18] Baldinucci, before 1696, uses it for an artillery shell with a fuse that explodes on impact.^[2] The soldiers who threw grenades were the granatieri (1665–1670); the tallest and strongest men were chosen for the task, and the word came to mean a tall, sturdy person.^[2][13]

From the colour, granata became an invariable adjective and noun for a deep red; as the colour of their shirts it names the players and fans of Torino.^[5][6][14] Treccani adds the players of Reggiana.^[8]

Timeline

• 13th century – The Neapolitan Regimen Sanitatis has granata “pomegranate”.^[12]
• 14th century – Zucchero Bencivenni uses the word for the fruit.^[2]
• 14th century – The Libro di Sydrac uses it for the garnet.^[2]
• 1520 – French grenade “grenade” is recorded.^[18][19]
• 1612 – Palle granate “grenades” appears in Falconi.^[2][5]
• 1614 – Pantera uses granata alone for the grenade.^[2]
• 1616 – German Granate is recorded.^[19]
• 1665–1670 – Montecuccoli uses granatiere.^[2]
• Before 1696 – Baldinucci uses granata for an artillery shell.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pomegranate (the fruit); the same as melagrana.^[5][6][8][1]
2. A grenade, a hand grenade; formerly a hollow iron ball filled with powder and thrown by hand.^[7][15][1]
3. (military) An artillery shell with an explosive charge and a fuse.^[7][15][17]
4. (mineralogy) garnet; the same as granato.^[5][6][15]
5. (invariable) A maroon colour, the deep red of pomegranate seeds.^[5][8]
6. (invariable, football) A player or supporter of Torino: I granata hanno vinto il derby.^[5][6][1]

Adjective

1. (invariable) Of a deep red colour like pomegranate seeds: una giacca granata.^[5][6][8]
2. (invariable, football) Of Torino, its team or its fans.^[5][6][16]

Word family

• granatiere
• granatina