raso

Forms

raso (feminine rasa, masculine plural rasi, feminine plural rase)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rāsus (“scraped, shaven”), the past participle of rādō (“to scrape, shave”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} It belongs with the verb radere, from the same Latin verb, and with rasare, which DELI derives from Vulgar Latin *rasāre formed on the participle.^[2]

The noun for satin is the same word used as a noun, “(cloth) made smooth”, as DELI, Nocentini, Devoto–Oli, Sabatini and the GDLI agree;^{[2][3][5][6][7][8]} Treccani's Vocabolario says only “perhaps”.^{[2][3][5][6][7][8]} The Latin participle was already said of woollen cloth with its nap shorn off, and so thin or fine.^[9]

The participle survives across the Romance languages: Romanian ras, Sardinian razu, Romansh res, Friulian ras, Old French res (“shorn”) and Old Occitan ras.^[10] The Latin verb has relatives only in Celtic, such as Welsh rhathu (“to scrape”), from Proto-Italic *rasd-, so its Indo-European origin is uncertain.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the 13th-century Anonimo Genovese, with the sense “shaven”: Non è zà ben raso / a chi è romaso / gran pei soto naso “he is not well shaven who has much hair left under his nose”.^[2][12] The noun for satin is dated 1278, in Florentine documents.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In a document of 1295 raso meant struck off a list.^[2] Dante uses the adjective for “shaven” (1310–1313) and, with di, for “deprived”: his eyebrows were rase / d'ogne baldanza “shorn of all boldness”.^[2][4] Old Italian also opposed rasi, grown men, to tosi, boys.^[12] The sense “smooth, level” is found about 1350 in the translation of Crescenzi, and a measure “filled level to the brim” in Folgore da San Gimignano in the second half of the 13th century;^[2] DELI notes Medieval Latin modium unum et rasum as early as 845.^[2] In 1872 Tommaseo recorded bicchiere raso “a glass full to the brim” as current.^[2]

The phrase tabula rasa is medieval, not ancient: DELI credits Giles of Rome (died 1316) with the image of a wax tablet wiped clean, and Italian fare tabula rasa “to clear everything away” is recorded in 1891, with the adapted far tavola rasa before 1742.^[2] As a preposition raso gave raso a terra (1554–1565, Ramusio), raso acqua (1612) and raso terra (1939).^[2]

The satin cloth is common in the Renaissance, in Ariosto and in Sanudo's diaries.^[7] The REW holds that Italian raso “satin” passed into French, Occitan and Catalan ras, Spanish raso and Portuguese ras.^[10] In the 19th-century navy a vascello raso was a ship of the line cut down by removing its top deck.^[8]

Timeline

• 845 – Medieval Latin modium unum et rasum “one level measure”.^[2]
• 13th century – The Anonimo Genovese uses raso “shaven”.^[2]
• 1278 – Raso “satin” is recorded in Florence.^[2]
• Second half of the 13th century – Folgore da San Gimignano uses it of a measure filled level.^[2]
• 1310–1313 – Dante uses raso “shaven”.^[2]
• About 1350 – The translation of Crescenzi uses the sense “smooth, level”.^[2]
• 1554–1565 – Ramusio writes raso a terra.^[2]
• Before 1742 – G. B. Fagiuoli writes far tavola rasa.^[2]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records fare tabula rasa.^[2]
• 1939 – Raso terra is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Shaven, or cut close with a razor: guance appena rase.^[4][5][6]
2. Smooth, level, without projections.^[4][5][6]
3. Bare of trees or tall vegetation: campagna rasa.^[4][5][13]
4. Of a measure or container: filled level with the rim, brimful: un cucchiaino raso di sale.^[4][5][6]
5. Of an animal's coat: naturally short.^[4][13]
6. (literary) Deprived of something (with di).^[4][5][6]
7. (nautical, historical) Of a ship: built without a raised forecastle and poop, or cut down in height: vascello raso.^[4][5][8]
8. punto raso: a flat embroidery stitch.^[5][13]

Noun

1. (textiles) Satin weave, with few interlacings of the threads, giving a smooth, glossy face.^[4][5][6]
2. The cloth made in this weave.^[5][6][13]

Preposition

1. In raso terra, close to the ground, and raso bocca, up to the mouth of a vessel;^[13][5][8] a raso, at road level: incrocio a raso.^[13][5][8]

Word family

• rasone
• rasoterra

Related words

• radere
• rasare
• rasoio
• rasente
• tabula rasa
• Latin rādō

Usage notes

The ⟨s⟩ is pronounced either voiceless or voiced.^[5][1] GRADIT lists a separate raso, an old unit of length used in Piedmont before the metric system, about 60 centimetres, from Piedmontese ras, itself the same word.^[4] A noun raso “erasure” in Dino Compagni is obsolete.^[7][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ 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. 15, 512
8. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ 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, 509
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET