pettinaio

Forms

pettinaio m (plural pettinai, feminine pettinaia)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pectinarius (“comb-maker”), from Latin pecten (“comb”), the source of pettine, with the suffix -ārius.^[2][3][1][4] The Latin adjective meant “concerned with making combs”, perhaps also with carding wool.^[4] The same word is Romanian pieptenar, Friulian petenar, French peigner, Occitan penchenier, Catalan pentener, Spanish peinero and Portuguese pentieiro.^[5][6]

pecten is from Latin pecto (“to comb, card”), from the PIE root Proto-Indo-European *pek- (“to comb”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record to 1313–1319, with the sense of a maker and seller of combs.^[2] Zingarelli gives 1319.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The trade name has kept its sense, a person who makes or sells combs, but it is now little used or disused.^[2][8][9][3] Wiktionary also gives a figurative sense, a gossip or backbiter.^[1] Tommaseo's dictionary sends pettinajo to the diminutive form pettinagnolo.^[10]

Timeline

• 1313–1319 – GRADIT's date for the first record.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A comb-maker; a person who makes or sells combs.^[2][8][9][3]
2. (figurative) A gossip, a backbiter.^[1]

Word family

• pettinaiolo

Related words

• pettine
• pettinare
• Latin pecten

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET