puledro

Forms

puledro m (plural puledri, feminine puledra)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pullitrus, or *pulletrus, a derivative of Latin pullus (“young of an animal; foal”).^[2][3][4][1] The Vulgar Latin form is confirmed by Late Latin pulletrus of the 7th century.^[2]

The same word is Old French poutre “filly” (whence modern French poutre (“beam”)), Spanish potro and Portuguese potro, with Portuguese poldro too.^[2][5] In Italian it gave two outcomes.^[2] One kept the stress on the first syllable, as in the other Romance languages: poltro (14th century, now obsolete), from which come poltrire and poltrone.^[2][5] The other, poledro and the present word, treated the second syllable as long and stressed it, and voiced /t/ to /d/ before /r/.^[2] Devoto and Wiktionary explain the single /l/ and the /d/ as features of a northern, Gallo-Italic form, where a Tuscan polletro would be expected.^[6][1]

The origin of the Latin noun is disputed: one view relates it to Ancient Greek πῶλος (pôlos, “foal”) from Proto-Indo-European *polH-on- (“offspring”), another to putus (“boy”) and Sanskrit पुत्र (putrá, “son”).^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Medieval Latin form poletra is recorded at Vicenza in 1264.^[3] The Italian word appears before 1292 and in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, where a king learns that a puledro was raised on donkey's milk.^[4][3][8]

Semantic evolution

Old and dialect forms were many, among them poledro, poletro, pollitro and poliero;^[8][9][10] poledro and polledro survive as literary variants.^[8][9][10] Pietro de' Crescenzi's treatise, in its Italian translation, uses puledro di primo morso and di secondo morso for a colt by the teeth it has changed.^[8]

In poetry the word could mean the young of any animal, as in Foscolo's lion cubs (leonine poledre).^[9][10] Figuratively a puledro is a lively, restless young person, and one runs or jumps come un puledro.^[4][9] In past centuries, especially in the Kingdom of Naples, puledro was also a name of the torture rack called cavalletto.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 7th century – Late Latin pulletrus is recorded.^[2]
• 1264 – Medieval Latin poletra is recorded at Vicenza.^[3]
• Before 1292 – First record of puledro.^[4][11]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses puledro.^[3]
• 14th century – The older outcome poltro is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A foal or colt: a young horse, until it is sexually mature.^{[4][9][10][1]}
2. The young of other equine animals, such as the donkey, mule or zebra;^[4][9][12] (literary) the young of any animal.^[4][9][12]
3. (figurative) A lively, restless young person: quel ragazzino scalpita come un puledro.^[4][9][11]
4. (historical) The torture rack also called cavalletto.^[4][9][10]

Word family

• puledra
• puledrino
• puledraia
• puledrone

Related words

• pollo
• poltro
• poltrone
• poltrona
• Latin pullus
• Spanish potro

Usage notes

The feminine is puledra.^[9][1] Poledro and polledro are literary variants.^[9][12][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b 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. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 918
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse