nespola

Forms

nespola f (plural nespole)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian nespula and Old Italian nespolle.^[2] Dialect forms include Abruzzese rèspola and nèspora, Emilian nèsper, Genoese nèspua, and nèspula in Sicily.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *nespila, a neuter plural of the fruit's name that was taken as a feminine singular, from classical Latin mespilum, itself from Ancient Greek μέσπιλον (méspilon, “medlar”).^[4][1][5] DELI, GRADIT, Zingarelli and Sabatini–Coletti instead treat the fruit's name as formed in Italian from that of the tree, nespolo, which continues the Latin singular.^[6][7][8][9] DELI calls the Greek word pre-Indo-European.^[6]

The initial ⟨n-⟩ for Latin ⟨m-⟩ is usually explained as a dissimilation of the first labial before the following /p/, as in nappa from Latin mappa.^[4][10][11] Meyer-Lübke rejected the idea that the ⟨n-⟩ came from the indefinite article.^[11] Treccani notes that the same change occurs where no dissimilation is possible, as in nicchio from Latin mitŭlus.^[10] DEI finds the form with ⟨n-⟩ already in a 6th-century gloss.^[3]

The same word is Old French nesple, French nèfle, Catalan nespla, Spanish níspero and Portuguese nêspera.^[4][11][1] Some Alpine dialects of Lombardy mix the two initials, as in Bellinzona minèspola.^[11][3] Old High German mespila is closer to the Latin.^[3] Old Neapolitan bespolo has an initial ⟨b-⟩ that has not been explained.^[3][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Zucchero Bencivenni's Florentine Santà of 1310, where it means the edible fruit of the medlar tree.^[2] DELI dates the word from about 1350, in the Italian translation of Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture.^[6] The place name Néspolo is recorded in Tuscany from 1071 and at Lodi from 975.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the medlar was also a byword for a disagreeable fruit, and the word could name the tree itself.^[2] Medieval medical texts describe medlars as cold and dry in the first degree and good for the stomach.^[12][13]

From the 15th century nespola also meant a blow: DELI's first record is in Luca Pulci, before 1470.^[6][3] Nocentini traces this to the phrase dare le nespole, an ironic stand-in for dare le botte “to give blows”, and the same metaphor gave the exclamation nespole!, a euphemism comparable to Emilian–Romagnol sorbole!.^[4] DEI dates the exclamation to the 19th century.^[3]

When the loquat reached Italy it was called nespolo del Giappone (1802) and its fruit nespola del Giappone (1869), today often simply nespola.^[6][10] The word was recorded in German as Nespel in 1741 and in English, in the plural nespoli, in 1875.^[14]

Timeline

• 975 – The place name Néspolo is recorded at Lodi.^[3]
• 1310 – Zucchero Bencivenni's Santà has the first Italian record of the fruit.^[2]
• Before 1321 – GRADIT's date for the word.^[7]
• About 1350 – The translation of Crescenzi uses nespola for the medlar.^[6]
• Before 1470 – Luca Pulci uses the word for a blow.^[6]
• 1741 – German Nespel is recorded.^[14]
• 1869 – Nespola del Giappone “loquat” is recorded in Tommaseo–Bellini.^[6]
• 1875 – English records the plural nespoli.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The fruit of the nespolo, the medlar: round and brown, picked unripe in autumn and left to ripen in straw until the flesh is soft and sweet.^[7][15][10]
2. The fruit of the Japanese medlar, the loquat: oval and orange, ripening on the tree in late spring; in full nespola del Giappone.^[7][15][1]
3. (literary) A dark spot on the skin; a fleshy growth.^[7]
4. (figurative, colloquial) A quick hard blow or slap; by extension, a sudden misfortune: Ha preso una nespola che non si aspettava.^[7][15][10]
5. (colloquial, in the plural) As an exclamation of surprise or annoyance: Nespole, quanto costa!^[7][15][10]

Word family

• nespolina

Related words

• nespolo
• Latin mespilum
• French nèfle

Usage notes

The proverb col tempo e con la paglia maturano le nespole (“with time and straw the medlars ripen”) counsels patience.^[8][16][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2575
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ a b c d e Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 384
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli