lavello

Forms

lavello m (plural lavelli)^[1] The oldest Italian form is Old Italian lavel (1477).^[2][3] In some regions there is also a feminine lavella.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lābellum (“small basin, tub”), a diminutive of lābrum (“basin”).^[5][6][2] This lābrum is not the word for “lip” but a shortened form of lavābrum (“instrument for washing”), from lavō (“to wash”).^[5][6][7][8] The word belongs to northern Italy: it is used in Piedmont, Liguria and Emilia, next to the Tuscan acquaio.^[5] Zingarelli and the GDLI call it learned,^[9][4] while the Wikizionario supposes Vulgar Latin *lavellum in spoken Latin, which kept the ⟨-v-⟩ by association with lavare.^[10]

The same Latin word gave avello (“tomb”).^[5][6] Medieval Latin documents from Ravenna have the forms Medieval Latin lapella (966) and lapellus (1205).^[5] Tuscan place names continue the simple word (⟨Montelabro⟩, 865), and the derivative is more common (⟨Lavello⟩, 1040).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A document of 1477 has the form lavel “sink”.^[2][3] A lavello sive beveratoio, a drinking trough, is recorded at Verona in 1450.^[5] DELI's first Italian record of the sense “sink” is in Citolini in 1561, who lists the lavello among the furnishings of a barber's shop.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word also named the tub of water in which smiths cool and temper iron (1559).^[11][12] Dolce describes a grey stone from which kitchen sinks are made, and Scamozzi writes of the Belgians making lavelli of soft white stone.^[4][12] Muratori notes that the people of Modena call lavello the marble basin in which kitchen pots are washed.^[4] A lavello was also a holy-water stoup.^[4]

The literary and regional sense “tomb” matches that of avello, and Pascoli uses it.^[13][9] Today the word is the usual name of the kitchen sink, especially in the language of commerce, where gruppo lavello is the kitchen unit with sink and taps.^[14][4] English borrowed the word as lavel, a rare word recorded in 1658.^[3]

Timeline

• 966 – Medieval Latin lapella is recorded at Ravenna.^[5]
• 1040 – The place name Lavello is recorded.^[11]
• 1205 – Medieval Latin lapellus is recorded at Ravenna.^[5]
• 1450 – A lavello as a drinking trough is recorded at Verona.^[5]
• 1477 – The form lavel “sink” is first recorded.^[2][3]
• 1559 – The word names the smith's quenching tub.^[11]
• 1561 – Citolini uses lavello.^[5]
• 1658 – English lavel is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kitchen sink; acquaio, lavandino: un lavello in pietra con due vasche.^{[2][14][15][1]}
2. A basin or tub.^[14][16]
3. (metallurgy) The tub in which smiths dip iron to temper it.^[2][16][12]
4. (literary, regional) A tomb; avello.^[2][14][13]

Word family

• sottolavello

Related words

• avello
• lavare
• acquaio
• Latin labellum

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
4. ^ a b c d e f g Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 8
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
11. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2187
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli