mulinaro

Forms

mulinaro m (plural mulinari)^[1] Variants are mulinaio, molinaro and molinaio; the feminine is mulinara.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin molinārius (“miller”), a derivative of molīnum (“mill”).^[5][2][4][6] De Mauro's dictionary analyses it instead as from Italian mulino + -aro.^[7] Wiktionary takes the form in ⟨-aro⟩ as a borrowing from southern dialects such as Sicilian mulinaru.^[1] GDLI calls this variant central and southern, beside Tuscan mulinaio.^[8]

The Late Latin word is recorded in the glosses, and as mulinarius in the Latin of Lombard Italy in 781 and 966.^[9][8] The same word survives in most Romance languages but not in Romanian: Sardinian molinardzu, Romansh moliner, Friulian mulinar, French meunier, Old Occitan moliner, Catalan moliner, Spanish molinero and Portuguese moleiro.^[10][11] The French word was borrowed as Italian mugnaio, the standard word for a miller today.^[10][11]

molīnum belongs with Latin mola (“millstone”), from molō (“to grind”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush, grind”).^[1][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and De Mauro date the Italian word to the 14th century, and Zingarelli to the 13th; it meant a miller, the person who runs a mill.^[5][7][6] DEI gives mulinaro from the 13th century beside mulinaio.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian prose the word named the miller: Franco Sacchetti tells of a man who said he was mulinaro dell'abate (“the abbot's miller”).^[13][3] A proverbial comparison spoke of the miller's donkey, which carries barley as willingly as wheat, and lead as willingly as gold.^[13]

Today mulinaro is a popular or regional synonym of mugnaio, mainly in central and southern Italy.^[6][3][2] Technical language has given it narrower senses: a worker who runs the bolting machines in a flour mill, a worker or owner in an olive press, and the man who crushes the lumps of rock salt in a salt mine.^[7][3] In northern dialects the related forms name birds with floury-white plumage, such as Trentino molinarela, the great tit.^[11][10]

Timeline

• 781 – Mulinarius appears in the Latin of Lombard Italy.^[9]
• 957 – The synonym mulinaturus is recorded at Cava.^[9]
• 1200s – Zingarelli dates the Italian word to the 13th century.^[6]
• 1300s – Nocentini, De Mauro and Devoto–Oli date it to the 14th century.^[5][7][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional, central and southern Italy) A miller, the same as mugnaio: Il mulinaro portava i sacchi di farina al paese.^[2][6][7]
2. In a flour mill, a worker who runs the bolting machines.^[7]
3. A worker who grinds olives, or the owner or manager of an olive press.^[7]
4. (mining) In a salt mine, the worker who crushes the lumps of extracted rock salt.^[7][2][3]

Word family

• mulinara

Related words

• mulino
• mulinaio
• mugnaio
• mola
• Latin molō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ 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)
4. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 59
9. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2528
10. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2488
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET