mannaro

Forms

mannaro (feminine mannara, masculine plural mannari, feminine plural mannare)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *hominārius, from Latin homō (“human being”), in the phrase *lupus hominārius (“wolf of human shape”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The phrase matches Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos, “werewolf”), the source of licantropo.^[7][2][3] The Treccani, Sabatini–Coletti and Wiktionary take it as a southern word, and DELI as perhaps southern.^[8][9][1][7]

DELI supports the reconstruction with parallel phrases that survive in the dialects, continuing lupus with hominēs or with Vulgar Latin *hominīni.^[7] Tommaseo already linked the word with an old manno (“man”), “as if wolf-man”.^[10]

The Latin word for “man” is from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰ(e)m-ōn (“earthling”), derived from the word for “earth”.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to 1712, and Zingarelli to before 1712;^[3][4][7] DELI's first record of lupo mannaro is in Batacchi, before 1802.^[3][4][7] It names the werewolf of popular belief.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The phrase lupo mannaro has two uses: in folk belief it is the licantropo, a man who turns into a wolf, and in the family it is the monster of children's tales, used to frighten them.^[7][9][5] Tommaseo notes that in some places the lupomannaro was a man seized by fits that drove him out of the village like a wild beast.^[10] An older phrase of the same kind, lupo... menino, is already in the Morgante.^[7]

The adjective can go with other animals: Landolfi, in the 20th century, calls a woman a capra mannara (“were-goat”).^[12][1]

Timeline

• 1712 – First record of the word.^[3]
• Before 1802 – Batacchi uses lupo mannaro.^[7][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Only in lupo mannaro: a werewolf;^[3][4][9][7] (colloquial) a bogeyman of children's stories.^[3][4][9][7]
2. With the names of animals: able to take that animal's shape or features, like English were-: un gatto mannaro.^[6][12][1]

Related words

• lupo
• licantropo
• uomo
• Latin homō

Usage notes

The phrase is also written as one word, lupomannaro.^[10] The feminine is mannara and the plurals mannari, mannare.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ 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
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca