mattero

Forms

mattero m (plural matteri)^[1]

Etymology

In the view of DELI, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Wiktionary it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *mattaris, a variant of Latin mataris (“throwing spear”) (also materis and matara), the javelin of the Gauls.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Latin word is of Gaulish origin, and the OLD compares Welsh medru (“to aim”).^[3][4][6][5] The same Latin word gave Old French matelaz (“kind of arrow”), French matras (“distilling flask”) and Old Occitan matratz.^[7][8]

Nocentini rejects this.^[9] For him the word is a change of gender of central and southern mattera (“kneading trough”), a Byzantine loan from Byzantine Greek μάκτρα (máktra, “kneading trough”), from the root of μάσσω (mássō, “to knead”): the stick is the tool that goes with the trough, used to roll out dough and stir polenta.^[9] This spares the leap from a throwing weapon to a stick and a kitchen tool, and the maps of the AIS show mattarello only in Romagna and eastern Tuscany, inside the wider central-southern area of the trough word, as suits a Byzantine loan.^[9] The TLIO follows Nocentini.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Florentine Novellino of the late 13th century.^[2][3][10] The TLIO defines the word there as a kitchen tool, a long wooden cylinder.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Fra Giordano used it for a club: chi desse d'un mattero nel capo a uno (whoever struck someone on the head with a mattero) would make him lose his memory.^[11] DEI records the diminutive matterello in the 17th century for the round stick that rolls out pasta,^[8] while DELI dates it to before 1755^[2] and Nocentini to the 18th century.^[9]

The historical senses, a Celtic weapon like a large pike and a medieval javelin with a short broad head, follow the Latin word the dictionaries derive it from.^[3][6] In basket-making a mattero is a rod about a metre long cut from the top of a shoot of manna ash and split into thin strips.^[3][6]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – The Novellino has mattero.^[2][10]
• Before 1755 – Matterello “rolling pin” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic, regional) A stick or cudgel.^{[3][4][12][11]}
2. (historical) A Celtic weapon thought to be a large pike.^{[3][4][13][6]}
3. (historical) A medieval javelin with a short, broad head.^[3][6][12]
4. A rod about a metre long, from the upper part of a shoot of manna ash, split into strips for basket-making.^[3][6]
5. (regional) A rolling pin, the same as matterello.^[4]

Word family

• matterello

Related words

• Latin mataris

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2393
9. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli