rapa

Forms

rapa f (plural rape)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian rape, Old Italian rava, Old Italian rav and Old Italian rave, the last three northern.^[2] An older masculine rapo is recorded in Soderini and in Sienese.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rāpa (“turnip”), originally the neuter plural of rāpum, reinterpreted as a feminine singular, as happened to several Latin neuters.^[4][5][6][1] The masculine rapo continues the Latin neuter itself.^[7][3]

The DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance neuter, which became masculine in part of central and north-eastern Italy, in Friulian, Ladin and all of Iberia, and feminine elsewhere, in Sardinian, Romansh, French and Occitan.^[8] The same word is Old French reve (modern French rave, taken from Occitan), Occitan raba and Catalan raba, while Spanish rabo and Portuguese rabo continue the masculine and have come to mean “tail”.^[9][10] Meyer-Lübke adds Friulian raf, Sardinian raba and Engadine reva.^[10]

The Latin word has close relatives in Ancient Greek ῥάπυς (rhápus), Lithuanian rópė and Old High German ruoba (modern German Rübe), all meaning turnip.^[11][9][12] De Vaan notes that the vowels cannot be reconciled in a regular Proto-Indo-European word, and that the Greek variation between π and φ points to a loanword.^[11] Nocentini likewise thinks the name spread by borrowing with the crop, from an unknown centre; Ancient Greek ῥάφανος (rháphanos), the source of rafano, belongs to the same family.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Milanese Volgari of Bonvesin de la Riva (late 13th century), for the plant grown for its round root.^[2] The TLIO also notes an early adjectival use for something of little worth.^[2] DELI dates the plant to the Tuscan translation of Crescenzi (about 1350) and the root to the Anonimo romano (mid-14th century); Nocentini and GRADIT give before 1312.^[4][9][5]

Semantic evolution

The plant and its root have kept the name since the Middle Ages; the Crescenzi translation notes that the turnip grows in almost any climate and wants rich loose soil.^[13] Luigi Pulci has Orlando's enemies sliced come rape (like turnips), and a Tuscan proverb says the good turnip is sown by the feast of the Assumption, 15 August.^[13]

The figurative senses come from the plain, round root: a dull, stupid person, from the turnip's insipid taste, and, jokingly, a shaven or bald head, recorded by DELI from Palazzi's dictionary of 1939–40, and then the head in general.^[4][14][5] Set phrases include testa di rapa (blockhead), non valere una rapa (to be worth nothing) and cavare sangue da una rapa (to expect from someone what they cannot give).^[5][15][16] The vegetable names cime di rapa, cavolo rapa and sedano rapa are built on it.^[5][15]

The verb rapare “to shave the head” (before 1698, Redi) has been explained as “to make the head smooth like a turnip”.^[4][9] DELI calls this derivation not certain: DEI proposed a Germanic hrapōn and Alessio Spanish rapar instead.^[4]

Timeline

• 958 – the personal name Rapaiolo is recorded at Pistoia.^[7]
• 1029 – the Tuscan place name Rapille is recorded.^[7]
• Late 13th century – Bonvesin de la Riva uses the word in Milanese.^[2]
• About 1350 – the Tuscan translation of Crescenzi uses rapa for the plant.^[4]
• Mid-14th century – the Anonimo romano uses it for the root.^[4]
• Before 1698 – Francesco Redi uses rapare “to shave the head”.^[4]
• 1939–40 – Palazzi records the jocular sense “shaven or bald head”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. turnip: the round or conical fleshy root, with white or yellow flesh, cooked in many ways.^[5][17][1]
2. (botany) The plant Brassica rapa of the cabbage family, with small yellow flowers, grown for the root and as fodder.^[5][15][16]
3. (figurative) A dull, stupid person: In matematica sono proprio una rapa.^[5][15][17]
4. (familiar, jocular) A shaven or bald head; by extension the head, the brain.^[5][15][16]

Word family

• rapare
• rapata
• rapetta
• rapone
• raperonzolo

Related words

• rapo
• rafano
• Latin rapum
• French rave

Usage notes

GRADIT lists two other words spelled rapa: one is a popular noun of 1963 for a close shave of the head, from rapare under the influence of rapa, used in fare la rapa and farsi la rapa.^[5][15][14] DELI records far la rapa from 1950, for the shaving of women's heads as a punishment during the occupation.^[4]

The other is a slang word for a robbery (1966), a popular shortening of rapina;^[5][18][1] Wiktionary marks it as Roman.^[5][18][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 824
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3207
8. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
9. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
18. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 447