palomba

Forms

palomba f (plural palombe)^[1]

Etymology

For Nocentini and GRADIT it is inherited from Latin palumba, the feminine of palumbēs (“wood pigeon”).^[2][3][4] Devoto–Oli, Sabatini, Zingarelli and Gabrielli treat it as the feminine of palombo formed in Italian, and Wiktionary gives both.^{[5][6][7][8][1]}

The Latin word is Occitan palomba, Catalan paloma, Spanish paloma and Portuguese pomba, and with a suffix Romanian porumbel.^[2][9] French palombe came from Occitan, and DEI calls the word pan-Romance except in French.^[2][10]

DELI and Nocentini relate the Latin word to pallidus (“pale”), named for the grey of its feathers, with the same ending as columba (“dove”).^[11][2] De Vaan compares Ancient Greek πέλεια (péleia, “wild pigeon”) and calls the link with a word for “grey” possible but not certain.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Fiorita of Armannino, after 1325, in Abruzzese: tre blanche palomme volare vede per quella grande selva (“he sees three white doves fly through that great wood”).^[13] The sense is the female pigeon.^[13]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word appears only in central and southern texts: Buccio di Ranallo (L'Aquila, 1330), the statutes of Perugia (1342), which ban catching palombe with nets, and the Roman Cronica, where a white palomma with an olive branch is a sign of peace.^[13] In Sicilian, Giovanni Campulu shows an abbot's soul as a palumba for its innocence.^[13]

GRADIT dates the word in literature to before 1511, in the form palumba.^[3] Roseo distinguishes three kinds of palombe, wild ones, those of the dovecote and the tame ones, and Morante writes of palombe cooing along the cornices.^[14] The GDLI calls it a word of central Italy, and the dictionaries label it regional or literary.^[14][5][15]

Timeline

• After 1325 – Armannino's Fiorita has palomme in Abruzzese.^[13]
• 1330 – Buccio di Ranallo uses the word at L'Aquila.^[13]
• By 1337 – Giovanni Campulu uses Sicilian palumba.^[13]
• 1342 – The statutes of Perugia regulate the netting of palombe.^[13]
• Before 1511 – Palumba appears in literary Italian.^[3]
• Before 1837 – A nautical palomba “strop” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional, central Italy) The stock dove, Columba oenas; colombella.^[3][5][4]
2. (regional or literary) A female pigeon; a dove.^[3][6][4]
3. (regional) The wood pigeon; colombaccio.^[3][7][8]
4. (figurative) A naive girl.^[3]

Word family

• palombella

Related words

• palombo
• colomba
• Latin palumbēs

Usage notes

In seamanship palomba is also a stroppo, a loop of rope, recorded before 1837.^[3] GRADIT calls its origin uncertain, while the GDLI takes it from French palombe, and Meyer-Lübke records Catalan paloma for a rope fastened to the middle of a yard.^[3][16][9] The TLIO notes that the old plural palumbi could stand for birds of either sex.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2736
11. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
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 c d e f g h i Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
14. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 434
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 435