pescatore

Forms

pescatore m (plural pescatori, feminine pescatrice)^[1] Old Italian forms include pescaor, Old Italian pescadore, Old Italian pescaore and Old Italian peschadore.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin piscātor (“fisherman”), from piscor (“to fish”), from piscis (“fish”).^{[3][4][5][1][6]}

The same Latin word gave French pêcheur, Occitan pescador, Catalan pescador, Spanish pescador and Portuguese pescador.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears as pescaor in the 12th-century Sermone gallo-italico, which likens man to the fisherman's net, with its light cork and its heavy lead.^[4][8] The form pescatore is first found in Ruggieri Apugliese, in the mid-13th century, in a list of trades.^[4][2][8]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word named a man who fishes for a living, and figuratively an apostle: Jesus's call to make Peter and Andrew pescatori di uomini “fishers of men” gave the phrase for missionary work.^[2][9] Peter himself is il Pescatore, and the anello del pescatore is the papal seal ring, the Medieval Latin anulus piscatorius of the 13th century.^[9][10]

A Tuscan proverb compared people who grab at every small gain to the fishermen of the Mugnone, a stream near Florence that often runs dry.^[11] Technical senses came later: a large hook for hauling up a stocked anchor, and a tool for recovering objects dropped into a borehole (1958).^[4][5][12] As an adjective it describes animals that live by catching fish, as in martin pescatore (kingfisher).^[5][13]

Timeline

• 12th century – Pescaor appears in the Sermone gallo-italico.^[4]
• 13th century – The papal anulus piscatorius is named in Medieval Latin.^[10]
• Mid-13th century – Ruggieri Apugliese uses pescatore.^[4][2]
• 1886 – Pescatore del re is recorded as a name of the kingfisher.^[10]
• 1958 – The sense “borehole recovery tool” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fisherman, someone who fishes for a living or for sport: un paese di pescatori.^{[5][14][13][1]}
2. Il Pescatore: Saint Peter.^[5][15][13]
3. (nautical) A large hook on a tackle, used to haul up an anchor with a stock.^[5][14][12]
4. (mining) A tool for recovering objects dropped into a borehole.^[5][13][12]

Adjective

1. Of animals: that feeds on fish: martin pescatore, falco pescatore.^[5][15][1]

Word family

• pescatorello

Related words

• pescare
• pesce
• piscatorio
• Latin piscator
• French pêcheur

Usage notes

The feminine is pescatrice, rarely pescatora.^[13][14] Alla pescatora means in the fishermen's way: a risotto alla pescatora has seafood, and trousers alla pescatora end at mid-calf.^[13] Pescatore di frodo is a poacher of fish.^[12][16]

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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 159
9. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2871
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ 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
15. ^ a b 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