pellaio

Forms

pellaio m (plural pellai)^[1] A regional form of central Italy is pellaro.^[2][3][4] The DEI records pellaro at Lucca in 1863.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin pellārius (“furrier; dealing in skins”), a Late Latin word recorded in Firmicus.^[6][5][1][7] The Latin word is formed from pellis (“skin, hide”) with the suffix -ārius, with the Tuscan change of ⟨-ariu⟩ to -aio.^[8][1][9] Meyer-Lübke also allowed that the Romance words may be new formations.^[10]

The DEI places it in Italy, Romania, Provence, Catalonia and Portugal, and its outcomes include Occitan pelier, Catalan peller, Portuguese pelleiro and Romanian pielar.^[6][10][5]

Latin pellis goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pel-ni- (“skin, hide”), related to Old High German fel, Old English fell and Old Norse fjall.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Bandi lucchesi, proclamations of Lucca of 1347, in the sense “tanner or seller of hides”.^[12][3] A Lucca ban of this collection orders every innkeeper, tavern-keeper, pellaio or leather-worker to keep the drains clean.^[13]

Semantic evolution

Sercambi tells of “one Ranieri, pellaio and paper-maker” at Pisa, and later writers mention the shops of the skinners together with the slaughterhouses and stores that should face south.^[13] The form pellaro appears in Monti, for a shop in the strada di Chiaia.^[13]

In Tuscany the word took a figurative sense.^[13] Tommaseo explains it as one who “takes the skin off without mercy”, from the skinning of dead animals: a person who mistreats others, and also one who squanders his own goods.^[13] Modern dictionaries record it as a coarse and violent person.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1347 – Pellaio appears in the Bandi lucchesi.^[12][3]
• 1374 – GRADIT dates the word to this year.^[7]
• 1863 – The regional form pellaro is recorded at Lucca.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tanner or seller of hides, especially lamb or ox skins; a skinner.^{[2][14][7][1]}
2. (figurative, regional, Tuscany) A coarse, violent person;^[2][7] trattare come un pellaio, to treat someone roughly and without regard.^[2][7]

Related words

• pelle
• pelliccia
• Latin pellis

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2826
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 955
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)