profenda

Forms

profenda f (plural profende)^[1] An older and variant form is provenda.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin provenda, also probenda, a variant of Late Latin praebenda (“prebend”) reshaped after Latin prōvideō (“to provide”).^[4][2][5][1] The form with ⟨b⟩ is recorded in the Capitulare de villis, for the allowances of landless estate workers.^[6][5] The Latin noun is the gerundive of praebeō (“to offer”), from prae- and habeō (“to have”).^[7]

The ⟨f⟩ is not explained the same way.^[5][3] DEI suggests a contamination with prōferō (“to put forward”), and Tommaseo already linked it to the same verb.^[5][8] Devoto thinks of a crossing with profitto.^[9] Zingarelli sees an alteration of prebenda through a form prefenda.^[3]

The same word is Sardinian proenda (Logudorese), Sicilian pruvenna and French provende (“provisions”).^[6][5] German Pfründe was taken from the Latin.^[6][5] The learned prebenda is its doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates profenda to 1266 and GRADIT to before 1294, for a daily ration of fodder given to an animal, especially a horse.^[3][4] DEI's first record is in the vernacular P. de' Crescenzi of the 14th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The vernacular Crescenzi advises that the horse should eat low down, so that it can barely reach la profenda e il fieno.^[8] The vernacular Bible says that a host diede la profenda agli asini.^[8] It also named a dry measure of fodder, a twelfth of a rubbio, in M. Villani.^[5] The verb profendare, to give fodder, is recorded in 1555.^[5]

By extension it meant a meal or ration of food for a person, and in old use also a prebend.^[4][3][2] The word is now rare or literary.^[10][11][12]

Timeline

• 1266 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^[3]
• Before 1294 – GRADIT's date of first record.^[4]
• 1300s – Profenda appears in the vernacular P. de' Crescenzi.^[5]
• 1300s – M. Villani uses it for a measure of fodder.^[5]
• 1555 – M. Franzesi uses the verb profendare.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary or dated) A daily ration of fodder or other feed given to an animal, especially a horse.^{[4][10][11][2][1]}
2. (obsolete) By extension, a meal or ration of food for a person.^[4][2][3]
3. (obsolete) A prebend or benefice.^[3][2]

Word family

• profendare

Related words

• prebenda
• provvedere
• French provende

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3094
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli