pastore

Forms

pastore m (plural pastori, feminine pastora or pastrice)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pastor (“shepherd”), through its accusative.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun is formed from pāscō (“to pasture, feed”) with the agent suffix -tor.^[2][3][5] The same word is French pâtre, from the Latin nominative, and pasteur, Occitan pastre, Catalan pastor, Spanish pastor, Portuguese pastor and Romanian păstor.^[3][6]

De Vaan derives the Latin verb from a present Proto-Indo-European *peh₂s- (“to protect, herd”), also continued in Hittite and Slavic.^[7] Its relatives include Ancient Greek ποιμήν (poimḗn, “shepherd”).^[7]

The church senses translate a Christian Greek use of the word for shepherd, from the biblical image of the shepherd of the Lord's flock.^[8][9] The Latin noun was used of Pope Sixtus II by Damasus and of bishops from the 5th century.^[8] DEI takes the sense “Protestant minister” from German Pastor, itself from Church Latin.^[8] The phrase for a “shepherd of peoples” is a learned calque of Latin pastor populi, modelled in turn on the Greek “shepherd of the people”.^[9] The derivatives pastorale and pastorizia were taken from Latin as learned words.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Lauda bergamasca of the late 13th century, for one who keeps and grazes flocks: a li pastor’ noncià novel (“announced the news to the shepherds”), of the angel Gabriel.^[2][9] Zingarelli dates the word to 1282.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The figurative “guide of peoples or nations” is found before 1306 in Jacopone da Todi.^[2] From the 14th century the word named a bishop or the pope;^[8][11][12] Dante speaks of ’l pastor di Cosenza, the archbishop sent to hunt down Manfred.^[8][11][12] Christ is il buon Pastore, and the Good Shepherd became a common motif of early Christian art.^[13][14]

In the 18th century the members of the Academy of Arcadia called themselves pastori.^[8][12] DEI dates the sense “Protestant minister” to 1749 and DELI to 1786 (Paolo Frisi).^[8][2] Tommaseo records pastore for a clumsy, awkward man, and DELI dates this use to 1891.^[11][2] The name of the sheepdog breeds is recorded from 1958; the best known is the pastore tedesco, the German shepherd.^[2][10] In popular speech the stella del pastore is the planet Venus.^[15]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – First record, in the Lauda bergamasca.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses it for a guide of peoples.^[2]
• 14th century – The word is used for a bishop or the pope.^[8]
• 1350 – Pastorizia “herding” in the Italian Crescenzi.^[2]
• 1749 – Pastore “Protestant minister” (DEI, DELI has 1786).^[8][2]
• 1891 – The sense “clumsy man” is recorded.^[2]
• 1958 – The word names breeds of sheepdog.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shepherd or herdsman: one who leads livestock, especially sheep and goats, to pasture and looks after them: Il pastore riportò le capre all'ovile prima del buio.^[4][14][12]
2. (literature) A member of the Academy of Arcadia.^[4][14][15]
3. (figurative) A spiritual leader or guide; a priest or bishop: pastore d'anime.^[4][14][15]
4. (religion) In Protestant churches, a minister: Il pastore metodista ha letto un salmo.^[4][14][10]
5. Any of several breeds of sheepdog or guard dog, such as the pastore tedesco (German shepherd) and pastore maremmano.^[4][14][10]

Word family

• pastorale
• pastorizia
• pastorizio
• pastorello
• pastorella
• pastorelleria
• pastorato

Related words

• pascere
• pasto
• pastura
• Latin pastor
• French pasteur

Usage notes

The feminine is pastora;^[14][15][1] Wiktionary also gives pastrice.^[14][15][1] Il buon Pastore is Christ, and pastore d'anime a priest.^[13][16]

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 j k l m n 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 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. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ 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. 2799
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 800
10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli