pillo

Forms

pillo m (plural pilli)^[1] The old form is Old Italian pilo.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pillum, from Latin pīlum (“pestle”).^[3][4][2] Nocentini explains the double ⟨ll⟩ through a diminutive *pīlulum, and DELI thinks the doubling may go back to spoken Latin.^[5][6] GRADIT, Zingarelli, Treccani and Wiktionary give only the Latin word.^[7][8][9][1]

The Latin noun and its pair pīla (“mortar”) are instrument nouns from the root of pīnsō (“to pound”), the source also of pestare and pigiare.^[5][8] Wiktionary and Nocentini derive it from Proto-Italic *pistlom and Proto-Indo-European *peys- (“to crush”).^[1][5] The same word, used in the army, came to mean “javelin”.^[5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to the 14th century.^[7][8] The GDLI's earliest quotation, from an Old Italian Bible translation, has pilo for a pestle used to press olive oil.^[2] DELI's first record is from 1577, in Giovanni de' Ricci, for a wooden rammer used to beat and firm the ground.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In older Italian pillo was a pestle of hard wood for pounding things in a mortar; the GDLI quotes Lodovico Domenichi's Pliny, where Pilumnus “found the pestle”.^[2][4] Tommaseo defines it as a thick stick for pressing or pounding.^[11]

The main modern sense is a builder's rammer: a log, often ringed with iron at the bottom, with two handles, raised and dropped by hand to pack earth for roads and foundations.^[7][3][12] Tanners also used a pillo to pound hides in the vat.^[7][4] The verb pillare “to beat with the rammer” is recorded from the end of the 15th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 14th century – First record, as dated by GRADIT and Zingarelli.^[7][8]
• End of the 15th century – Marco Tanaglia uses the verb pillare.^[6]
• 1577 – Giovanni de' Ricci uses pillo for a rammer for the ground.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (building) A heavy wooden rammer with two handles, often ringed with iron, used to beat and pack earth for roads and foundations.^[7][3][8]
2. A club used by tanners to pound hides in the vat.^[7][4]
3. (archaic) A pestle or stick for pounding.^[7][4][8]

Word family

• pillare
• pillone

Related words

• pila
• pestello
• pestare
• Latin pilum

Usage notes

The GDLI records two minor homonyms: an obsolete adjective pillo “crushed”, from pillare, and pillo, an old name of the plant psillio.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 13, 477
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)