mallo

Forms

mallo m (plural malli)^[1] Tuscan dialects have Old Italian marlo, Sienese mèllo, Lucchese and Sienese mèrlo, and malva in the hills.^[2] Modenese says mala and malone.^[3]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[4][5] DELI prefers an old explanation, a learned word: it is borrowed from Latin mallo (“skin of an onion”), a Latin word that extended the sense of Ancient Greek μαλλός (mallós, “fleece, flock of wool”), of unknown origin.^[6][7][8][9] Canello had proposed it and Alessio defended it, while Hubschmid raised objections.^[6] Latin mallo is found only in Vegetius, for the dry stem of onions and for a swelling on a horse's knee.^[10][11]

Nocentini instead reconstructs *mallus, a variant of malleus (“hammer”), which dialect forms from Tuscany to Lombardy support.^[12][13][4] The use of malleus for parts of the body is shown by malleolus, and the swelling Vegetius calls mallo shares the round, projecting shape of the walnut's husk.^[12] He thinks the Greek etymology unnecessary.^[12] The Tuscan variants with a stressed /ɛ/ and the feminine gender may come from a blend with southern forms of mandorla.^[12]

Salvioni linked the word with midolla, which DELI rejects because of the stressed vowel.^[6] Diez asked whether it was the same as French malle (“trunk, bag”), a Germanic word.^[3] Prati took it to be of unknown origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Zucchero Bencivenni's Florentine treatise on health of 1310, for the fleshy covering of the walnut's shell.^[6][4] The Tuscan Palladio tells how to keep green walnuts in honey, stripped of their mallo and skin.^[9][14]

Semantic evolution

Crescenzi, about 1350, advises beating down walnuts when some redness shows between the shell and the husk.^[9][14] In the 15th century Pulci compares a head cut in two to a walnut split with its husk.^[9] Leonardo warned that walnut oil made from unpeeled nuts is stained by the husk and spoils the painting.^[9]

The husk, rich in tannin and resin, blackens and splits when the nut ripens; it is used as a natural dye.^[8][9][5] The word was extended to the husk of almonds, hazelnuts and peaches, and in literary use to the burr of the chestnut.^[14][5][7] Nocentini dates smallare, to remove the husk, to the 16th century.^[12]

Timeline

• 1310 – Zucchero Bencivenni uses mallo.^[6][4]
• c. 1340 – Zingarelli's date.^[15]
• 16th century – Smallare is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) The green, fleshy husk that covers the shell of walnuts, almonds and similar fruits, and blackens when the fruit is ripe.^{[7][13][8][15]}
2. (literary) The burr of the chestnut.^[7][5]

Word family

• smallare

Related words

• maglio
• malleolo
• Ancient Greek μαλλός (mallós)

Usage notes

A separate mallo, in history the assembly of the ancient Germans with political and judicial powers, has been used since the 18th century (Muratori); it is Medieval Latin mallus of the Salic Law, a Frankish word.^[7][9][5][3] Another, now obsolete mallo, recorded before 1597 in Soderini, named the bit of two-year-old wood at the base of a vine cutting, from Latin malleus (“hammer”).^[7][9][14] A third, mallo “surety”, is a shortened form of malleveria in Grazzini.^[9][14]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 621
3. ^ a b c Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
4. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c d e Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli