quadrello

Forms

quadrello m (plural quadrelli)^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive, from Italian quadro + -ello, from the adjective quadro (“square”).^[2][3][4][5] The form Medieval Latin quadrellus is recorded earlier in northern Italy: for a floor tile at Parma in 1255, and for an arrow at Venice in 1271.^[6] Wiktionary sets up a Vulgar Latin *quadrellus, and Körting a neuter *quadrellum (“small square”).^[1][7]

The same diminutive is French carreau, Old Occitan cairel, Spanish cuadrillo and Dalmatian cadrial.^[7][1] Latin quadrus (“square”) goes back to the root of quattuor (“four”); as an adjective it is only recorded in Late Latin, but quadra and quadrum are classical nouns.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Italian record, in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, has the sense “arrow, dart”.^[6][2] The word named a short bolt with a square head shot from a crossbow, named from its square iron or its four vanes.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The crossbow bolt is the quadrello of Dante, who compares a swift motion to a bolt that strikes and flies and leaves the nut: in tanto in quanto un quadrel posa / e vola e da la noce si dischiava.^[9][8] Giovanni Villani writes of quadrella shot from crossbows, and in Petrarch the plural stands for the arrows of Love: Amor l'aurate sue quadrella / spenda in me tutte.^[8][4] The feminine plural quadrella is the literary one.^[10][9]

The sense “square floor tile” runs beside it from the Latin of Parma (1255) through northern quadrel (late 13th century) and Vicentine quarello (1480).^[6] Later the word named many small square things: the piece sewn into a glove where the fingers part (1846), a reinforcing patch in a sail, a square-bladed dagger, a ruler, a square file, a tapestry needle, and a cut of loin (1965).^[6][2][11] English borrowed quadrel for a brick in 1686.^[12]

Timeline

• 1255 – Medieval Latin quadrellus “tile” is recorded at Parma.^[6]
• 1271 – Medieval Latin quadrellus “arrow” is recorded at Venice.^[6]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino has Italian quadrello “arrow”.^[6]
• 1480 – Quarello “tile” is recorded at Vicenza.^[6]
• 1686 – English quadrel “brick” is recorded.^[12]
• 1846 – Carena records the glove sense.^[6]
• 1965 – The butcher's sense “loin” is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A crossbow bolt with a square head; by extension, an arrow or dart.^[2][4] In the literary plural le quadrella, the arrows of Love.^[2][4][10]
2. (historical) A dagger with a square blade and a very sharp point.^[2][4]
3. A square floor or wall tile; an ambrogetta: una cucina a quadrelli rossi.^[2][9][5]
4. A small piece of cloth or leather, usually diamond-shaped, sewn into a glove where the fingers fork.^[2][10][5]
5. (nautical) A reinforcing patch sewn into a sail where it bears most strain.^[2][11]
6. A cut of veal, pork or lamb loin.^[2][10][5]
7. A ruler; a square file; a large square-pointed needle used by upholsterers.^[2][10][5]
8. The lower part of a watch key, with a square hole.^[2][10]

Word family

• quadrellare
• quadrelletto
• quadrellone

Related words

• quadro
• French carreau
• Latin quadrus

Usage notes

Quadrello is also the name of some marsh sedges (Cyperus), recorded by Pietro de' Crescenzi's translator and in the dialects of Pisa, Reggio Emilia and Romagna; this too is named from quadro.^[13][14][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3165
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 19