piuma

Forms

piuma f (plural piume)^[1] The oldest record has the Latin-like form pluma.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin plūma (“down feather”).^[2][3][4][1] The same word is French plume, Occitan pluma and Catalan ploma, all meaning feather in general.^[3][5] The Latin word was also borrowed into Old High German pflūma, the source of German Flaum (“down”).^[3]

The only sure cognate of the Latin word is Lithuanian plùnksna (“feather”).^[3][6] De Vaan takes it as a deverbal noun, perhaps from a root Proto-Indo-European *plew- or Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to float, fly”), and compares Old Prussian plauxdine (“featherbed”).^[7] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Italic *plouksmā, from Proto-Indo-European *plewk-smeh₂.^[1]

piumaggio is probably French plumage.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the form pluma in Petrus de l'Astore, in the 13th century, for the feathers of a bird; a passage there speaks of feeding the hawk a live bird am tota la piuma (“with all its feathers”).^[2][8] The form piuma appears in Zucchero Bencivenni in 1310 and in Dante in 1310–1313.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Before 1321 Dante also used the word for down on a face and, mostly in the plural, for pillows and the bed.^[2] His seggendo in piuma, / in fama non si vien (“sitting on down, one does not come to fame”) gives the figurative sense of ease and comfort.^[9][10] In poetry it could also stand for a wing.^[4][9]

Peso piuma in boxing is a calque of English featherweight.^[11] In fishing the word names an artificial lure, recorded from 1973.^[2] The derivative piumino named a head ornament (1772), a powder puff (1804) and a feather duster (1958).^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – Petrus de l'Astore uses the form pluma.^[2]
• 1310 – Zucchero Bencivenni uses piuma.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for down and, in the plural, for the bed.^[2]
• About 1350 – Piumato “feathered” is recorded.^[2]
• About 1360 – Piumoso is recorded.^[2]
• 1511 – Baldassare Castiglione mentions coltrette da piumino.^[2]
• 1561 – Impiumare is recorded.^[3]
• 1973 – The sense “fishing lure” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A down feather, one of the small soft feathers of a bird; collectively, plumage: Il pulcino era coperto di piume gialle.^[4][11][9]
2. Such feathers used as ornament or for stuffing: un piumone imbottito di piume d'oca.^[4][11][12]
3. (figurative) Something very light;^[4][11] leggero come una piuma, as light as a feather.^[4][11]
4. (literary) A wing.^[4][9][13]
5. (poetic) Down on the face, a young beard.^[4][9][12]
6. (literary, chiefly plural) A bed;^[4][9][12] (figurative) ease, comfort.^[4][9][12]
7. (sports) Peso piuma: featherweight; as an invariable masculine noun, a featherweight boxer.^[11][9][12]
8. (fishing) An artificial lure made with a small feather.^[2][10]

Word family

• piumaggio
• piumato
• piumoso
• piumino
• piumetta
• impiumare
• spiumare
• gommapiuma
• superpiuma

Related words

• piumaccio
• sprimacciare
• Latin plūma
• French plume

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli