prugno

Forms

prugno m (plural prugni)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian prugna (“plum”), the name of the fruit given a masculine form for the tree.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary instead takes it from Latin prūnus (“plum tree”), remodelled after prugna.^[1] Körting lists the Italian word among the outcomes of the Latin word.^[6]

The noun for the fruit is *prūnea, the feminine of an adjective formed from the Latin name of the tree.^[7][5] Nocentini explains the pair: Latin had the feminine noun for the tree and prūnum (neuter) for the fruit, borrowed from Greek and probably from Asia Minor in the end.^[5] Vulgar Latin made the tree masculine and the fruit a feminine *prūna.^[5] Italian renewed the name of the fruit with the derivative.^[5] The old tree name became pruno, the wild, thorny species, so the cultivated tree took the new masculine name.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli date the word before 1320.^[5][2][3] DELI and the GDLI cite the Italian translation of Crescenzi (about 1350): Il prugno ovvero susino è arbore noto, “the prugno, that is the plum tree, is a well-known tree”.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo already called susino the more common word, and noted Sacchetti's prugna for prugno to suit a rhyme.^[9] The word stayed in poetry: the GDLI quotes Pascoli and D'Annunzio.^[8]

Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani also use it for the wild plum or blackthorn, the pruno selvatico.^[10][11] The prugno icaco is a shrub of tropical America with plum-like fruits.^[11][2]

Timeline

• Before 1320 – Prugno is first recorded.^[5][2][3]
• About 1350 – The translation of Crescenzi uses prugno and prugna.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) The plum tree, Prunus domestica; the same as susino: In fondo all'orto c'era un vecchio prugno.^{[2][3][4][12]}
2. The wild plum or blackthorn; the same as pruno selvatico.^[10][12]
3. Prugno icaco: the cocoplum, Chrysobalanus icaco, a shrub from the region between Florida and Brazil.^[11][2]

Word family

• prugnolo

Related words

• prugna
• pruno
• susino
• Latin prunus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 829
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana