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lana

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word lana

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
before 1292, Bono Giamboni
Inherited from
Latin lana
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lana
Italian lana
From the same root
Latin laneus ← lana
Latin lanugo ← lana

Pronunciation

Forms

lana f (plural lane)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lāna (“wool”).[2][3][4][1] The word is common to the Romance languages: French laine, Occitan lana, Catalan llana, Spanish lana, Portuguese lã and Romanian lână.[3][5]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *wlānā and an Indo-European word for wool, Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂.[6][1] Its cognates include Sanskrit ऊर्णा (ūrṇā), Ancient Greek λῆνος (lênos), Lithuanian vilna, Gothic 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌻𐌰 (wulla) and English wool.[6][3][1] De Vaan glosses the reconstruction as “plucked material”, and DELI, Nocentini and Devoto connect it with a root meaning “to pluck”, from a time when wool was pulled from the sheep rather than shorn.[6][2][3][7] The link with Latin vellus (“fleece”) is not accepted by everyone.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bono Giamboni, before 1292, uses lana for the hair of the sheep, and Brunetto Latini, before 1294, for the fibre obtained by shearing.[2][3] The Fiore in the 13th century has the yarn and cloth made from it.[2]

Semantic evolution

Wool was the base of the medieval Tuscan cloth trade, and the old dictionaries record many kinds by quality and by the way it was taken: lana di garbo, a fine wool from the lands the Arabs called Garb, lana agnellina from lambs, and lana morticina from animals that died naturally.[8][9] The merchant of wool, the lanaiolo, is recorded from the 13th century.[2]

The name was extended to fibres like wool: lana di vetro (glass wool, 1895), lana d'acciaio and lana di roccia, and to the fluff that gathers under furniture (1863).[2][10] Figuratively lana is a person's nature: essere della stessa lana is to be of the same sort, and buona lana a rascal.[4][10][11] Questioni di lana caprina, pointless arguments, come from a line of Horace about disputing over goat's wool.[12][10]

Timeline

  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses lana for the fleece of the sheep.[2]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for the textile fibre.[2]
  • 13th century – The Fiore uses it for woollen yarn and cloth.[2]
  • 1863 – Fanfani records lana for the fluff under furniture.[2]
  • 1895 – Lana di vetro “glass wool” is recorded.[2]
  • 1957 – The sense “artificial fibre like wool” is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The hair of sheep and of some other animals, such as goats and camels; wool as a textile fibre: Le pecore sono state tosate e la lana è nel sacco.[4][13][14]
  2. Yarn or cloth made of wool: un maglione di lana.[4][14][10]
  3. A material in fine fibres like wool: lana di vetro, lana d'acciaio, lana di roccia.[10][11][15]
  4. (colloquial) The fluff of dust and hair that gathers under furniture.[4][10][15]
  5. (botany) The thick soft down on some parts of plants.[4][13][11]
  6. (figurative) A person's nature, usually a bad one; a rogue, especially in buona lana.[4][11]

Word family

  • lanaiolo
  • laneria
  • lanetta
  • laniccio
  • laniere
  • laniero
  • lanificio
  • lanital
  • lanolina
  • lanoso
  • lanugine
  • lanuginoso
  • lanuto

Usage notes

Lana vergine is new wool obtained by shearing, not recycled.[10][13] Questioni di lana caprina are futile arguments over trifles.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  6. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 8, 728
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2159
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Lana.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/lana. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·