mela

Forms

mela f (plural mele, diminutive melétta or melìna, augmentative melóna, pejorative melàccia, endearing-derogatory melùccia or melùzza)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin mēla, the neuter plural of mēlum (“apple”) taken as a feminine singular, the name of the fruit.^[2][3][4][1] This Late Latin word (4th century) stood beside classical Latin mālum; both were taken from Greek, the classical word from the Doric form μᾶλον (mâlon) and the late one from the Attic form μῆλον (mêlon).^[2][3][5][1] Latin told the tree, feminine mālus, from the fruit, with the neuter of the same word.^[3] Italian kept the distinction by making the tree masculine melo and the plural of the fruit a feminine singular.^[3]

DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */ˈmel-u/ and */ˈmel-a/ from Sardinian, Romanian and part of Italo-western Romance.^[6] Cognates are Romanian măr, Sardinian mela and Romansh mail.^[3][7] In southern Italy, Sicily and parts of the north, pomo took its place.^[7][8]

DEI thought the Greek word Mediterranean, perhaps from a language of Asia Minor.^[8] Wiktionary considers a pre-Indo-European substrate more likely than Proto-Indo-European *méh₂lom.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Florentine document of 1286–1290, dated 1287, for the fruit of the apple tree.^[9][3] DELI's first literary record is Boccaccio's Decameron (1348–1353), where the plague swellings grow come una comunal mela, “like an ordinary apple”.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word with qualifiers for other fruits: mela punica and mela a grane for the pomegranate, mela citrina for the quince; it also named a round ornament on a sceptre or staff.^[9] An old plural le mela and a form mella are recorded.^[10][11] Giovanni Villani, before 1348, already uses it for any apple-shaped object;^[2] tondo come una mela, of a full healthy face, is a Tuscan proverb of 1853.^[2]

Figurative plurals followed: rosy cheeks, the buttocks, and in some regions blows.^[4][12] In Florence mela di culaccio is a cut of beef from the top of the leg.^[13][12] La Grande Mela translates the English nickname of New York, the Big Apple.^[13][14] In sports slang mela has been the ball in basketball or tennis.^[15][16]

Timeline

• 1287 – A Florentine document has the first record.^[9][3]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses mela for an apple-shaped object.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses the word in the Decameron.^[2]
• 14th century – Mela cotogna, the quince, appears in Zucchero Bencivenni.^[2]
• 1853 – Tondo come una mela is recorded among Tuscan proverbs.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An apple, the fruit of the melo.^[4][13][15]
2. An apple-shaped object, such as the rose of a watering can.^[14][15][12]
3. (figurative, plural) Round, rosy cheeks.^[4][13][14]
4. (colloquial, plural) The buttocks; in Tuscany also the breasts.^[4][15][16]
5. (Tuscany) A cut of beef from the top of the leg, also mela di culaccio.^[4][13][14]
6. la Grande Mela: New York City.^[13][14]
7. (sports slang) The ball in basketball.^[15][17]

Adjective

1. Invariable, after a colour word: verde mela, apple green.^[13][14][17]

Word family

• meletta
• melina
• meluccia
• succiamele

Related words

• melagrana
• meleto
• melo
• melone
• pomo
• Latin malum

Usage notes

Mela marcia, a rotten apple, is said of the one bad element in a group.^[14] Tommaseo records an old mela for the tablet on which children learned the alphabet, and a grape variety of the same name, flattened like an apple.^[11][8]

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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2407
9. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d e f g 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 f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli