rana

Forms

rana f (plural rane)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rāna (“frog”).^[2][3][4][1] The same word is Old French raine, Occitan rana, Spanish rana and Portuguese rã, and also Sardinian rana, Romansh rana and Friulian rane.^[3][5] In modern French it survives only in eastern dialects.^[5]

The Romans already thought the word imitated the frog's call: Varro says that the frog is named after its own voice.^[2][1] De Vaan also takes it as imitative, probably of a sound ⟨rā⟩; a root Proto-Indo-European *reh₂- (“to roar”) or an older *raksna are possible but unproven.^[6] Devoto too reconstructs this form, from an imitative root ⟨rak-⟩, ⟨rag-⟩.^[7]

The diminutives ranocchia and ranocchio come from a Vulgar Latin *ranucula, for the attested rānicula.^[2][3][5] The same diminutive gave French grenouille, and the ⟨g-⟩ of the Italian variant granocchia and the French word is imitative of croaking.^[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Bono Giamboni's Italian Orosio, a Florentine text from before 1292, where it names the frog and could also mean a toad.^[9] DELI dates the word to 1310 (Zucchero Bencivenni) and to Dante (1300–1313), who describes the frog croaking col muso fuor dell'acqua (“with its snout out of the water”).^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

DEI notes that rana is the word of the province of Florence and of all northern Italy, while the dialects of Tuscany, Umbria, the Marche, Lazio and the south use ranocchio or ranocchia.^[11] In Neapolitan it merged with botta “toad” into ranavuòttola.^[11][5]

The fish called rana pescatrice, the monkfish, is named in Redi.^[11][8] Swimming a rana, with the head out of the water like a frog, gave the breaststroke its name, and ranista, a breaststroke swimmer, is recorded from 1931.^[2] Uomo rana “frogman”, recorded from 1945, translates American English frogman, as does French homme-grenouille.^[2][12]

Figurative uses include gonfiarsi come una rana, “to puff oneself up”, which alludes to Aesop's fable of the frog that swelled until it burst, and cantare come una rana, “to sing out of tune”.^[13][4] The word also means an ugly girl in colloquial speech, and a whim or fit of melancholy in avere le rane.^[4][13]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – First record, in Bono Giamboni's Orosio.^[9]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the word.^[2]
• 1300 – Ranocchio is recorded.^[2][3]
• Before 1367 – Ranocchia in Fazio degli Uberti.^[2]
• 1931 – Ranista “breaststroke swimmer”.^[2]
• 1945 – Uomo rana “frogman”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A frog: a tailless amphibian with smooth skin and long hind legs for jumping, which lives near water and croaks: Nel fosso dietro casa le rane gracidano tutta la notte.^[4][14][15]
2. (zoology) Rana, the genus of true frogs of the family Ranidae.^[4][15][12]
3. (swimming; singular) The breaststroke: Nuoto meglio a rana che a dorso.^[4][16][1]
4. rana pescatrice: the monkfish, a sea fish with a huge flat head and mouth.^[16][13][17]
5. (colloquial) An ugly girl.^[4]
6. (figurative) A whim or fit of melancholy, in avere le rane.^[4][13]
7. (invariable, after a noun) In uomo rana, a frogman.^[16][13][17]

Word family

• ranocchio
• ranocchia
• ranista
• ranocchiaia
• ranocchiesco
• ranella

Related words

• Latin rāna
• French grenouille

Usage notes

DEI records a separate rana of 1946, the name of a clandestine German association after the Second World War.^[11]

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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 361
8. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 823
9. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3204
12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli