piantume

Forms

piantume m (plural piantumi)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian pianta + -ume, a collective noun.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Wiktionary instead traces it to Late Latin *plantumen and compares Sicilian chiantimi.^[1] The GDLI and Treccani compare the related collective piantime.^[7][6]

pianta continues Latin planta (“shoot, slip”).^[8][9] De Vaan holds that this Latin noun and the word for the sole of the foot go back to the same form.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to before 1793, Nocentini to 1793, as an assortment of young plants grown in a nursery.^[2][3][8] The GDLI quotes Spallanzani, pleased that a correspondent had earned a little by selling his piantume.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word has stayed a technical term of horticulture and botany.^[2][5][3] Treccani calls it a disused collective, and it is the base of the verb piantumare.^[12][8]

Timeline

• Before 1793 – The word is first recorded.^[2][3]
• 1993 – The verb piantumare, formed on it, is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (agriculture) The stock of young plants grown in a nursery to be transplanted.^[2][5][4][3]

Word family

• piantumare

Related words

• pianta
• piantime
• Latin planta

References

1. ^ a b 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 d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 305
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana