pelo

Forms

pelo m (plural peli)^[1] Old and dialect forms include Old Italian pèlio, Old Italian pillo and Old Italian pilo.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pĭlus (“a hair”).^[3][4][5][1] The word is panromance: French poil, Occitan pel, Catalan pel, Spanish pelo, Portuguese pêlo, Sardinian pilu and Romanian păr.^[4][6] In Sardinian and southern French it also took the sense “hair of the head”, pushing back Latin capillus.^[6]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain, with no secure comparisons.^[3][4][7][8] Older sources reconstruct Proto-Indo-European *pilo- (“hair”), comparing Latin pilleus (“felt cap”), Ancient Greek πῖλος (pîlos, “felt”) and Proto-Slavic *pь̑lstъ (“felt”), but this is no longer accepted.^[1] De Vaan connects pila (“ball”), taken as “bundle of hair”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are from the 13th century, in G. Patecchio and in a text of 1241–72, for a hair of the body of humans and other mammals.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Chiaro Davanzati uses pelo for “the smallest bit” in the 13th century, the sense of per un pelo “by a hair”.^[3][5] The Siena wool statutes (1298–1309) use it for the nap of cloth, and a herbal of 1522 for the hairs of plants.^[3] Dante has pelo as a collective for hair and beard (un vecchio, bianco per antico pelo).^[5]

The sense “surface of the water”, as in a pelo d'acqua, is recorded as pello in M. Sanudo (1504) and as pelo in G. B. Ramusio (1565).^[3][10] A crack in a wall or a block of marble is also a pelo.^[5][11] Nocentini explains cercare il pelo nell'uovo “to nitpick” from this sense: one checked eggs for cracks before eating them.^[4] German borrowed Pelseide for the silk thread (1838).^[12]

Timeline

• 13th century – G. Patecchio uses pelo.^[3]
• 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses it for “the smallest bit”.^[3]
• 1298–1309 – The Siena wool statutes use it for the nap of cloth.^[3]
• 1504 – M. Sanudo uses pello for “surface”.^[3]
• 1522 – A herbal uses it for the hairs of plants.^[3]
• 1565 – G. B. Ramusio uses pelo for “surface”.^[3]
• 1838 – German Pelseide is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hair of the body of humans and other mammals: un pelo sulla giacca.^[5][13][1]
2. The coat or fur of an animal: un gatto dal pelo lungo.^[5][1]
3. (literary) Hair and beard together.^[5]
4. (zoology) A hair-like growth of arthropods and annelids.^[5]
5. (botany) A hair on the surface of a plant.^[5][3]
6. The nap of a fabric, especially wool.^[5][3]
7. An animal fibre used in textiles: pelo di cammello.^[5]
8. A twisted thread of raw silk, used for tulle.^[5][12]
9. A hairline crack in a wall or a block of marble.^[5]
10. The surface of water: a pelo d'acqua.^[3][10][1]
11. (figurative) A tiny amount: per un pelo “by a hair”.^[3][5]

Word family

• pelame
• peloso
• pelosità
• peluria
• contropelo
• pilifero

Related words

• spelare
• pelare
• French poil
• Latin pilus

Usage notes

Common phrases: cercare il pelo nell'uovo “to nitpick”, non avere peli sulla lingua “to speak one's mind”, di primo pelo “inexperienced”.^[5][4] Pelo is also the first person singular present of pelare “to peel, pluck”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 971
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2828
12. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier