remo

Forms

remo m (plural remi)^[1] The oldest record is the plural Old Italian remora, and the old language also had the singular Old Italian rimo and the plural reme.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rēmus (“oar”).^[2][4][5][1] The Latin word passed into the western Romance languages: Old French raim, Occitan rem, Catalan rem, Spanish remo, Portuguese remo and Friulian rem; modern French rame was confused with the word for “branch”.^[4][6] It was also borrowed into Old High German riemo, modern German Riemen, and into Welsh.^[4][7]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *rē(s)mo-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁-(s)mo- (“oar”).^[8][1] The forms with ⟨-resm-⟩ (⟨triresmos⟩) in the inscription of the Columna Rostrata may show an older ⟨s⟩, though the inscription may be archaising.^[8] Related words are Ancient Greek ἐρετμόν (eretmón, “oar”) and ἐρέτης (erétēs, “rower”), Old Irish rám (“oar”) and Old English rōwan (“to row”).^[8][4][1] Devoto connected the same root with that of arare “to plough”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the plural remora “oars” in a Pisan naval account of the early 12th century, the Conto navale pisano; the singular remo appears in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century.^[2][5][4] A Pisan charter records soldi xxv in remora, 25 soldi paid for oars.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The oar is the tool of the long voyage in Dante: Ulysses says “of our oars we made wings for the mad flight” (de' remi facemmo ali al folle volo), and Charon “beats with his oar whoever lingers”.^[3][10] In the Convivio rowing is Dante's example of an art that uses a natural motion as its tool.^[3]

Derivatives followed: remare “to row” (before 1342), remeggio and remeggiare (14th century), and rematore “rower” (before 1547).^[2][4] In the galleys a sentence al remo meant condemnation to row, and remo itself came to stand for the rower.^[5] With steam navigation it was also used for each paddle of a paddle wheel.^[5] Modern oars may be of light alloy or plastic, and some have a blade at both ends.^[3]

Timeline

• Early 12th century – The plural remora appears in the Conto navale pisano.^[2][4]
• Late 13th century – The singular remo appears in the Novellino.^[2]
• Before 1342 – Remare “to row” is recorded in Cavalca.^[2]
• Before 1547 – Bembo uses rematore “rower”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. oar: a long pole, usually of wood, with a flat blade at one end, dipped in the water and worked as a lever to drive a boat: una barca a remi.^[5][11][1]
2. A stroke of the oar, in colpo di remo.^[5][11]
3. (figurative) A rower.^[5]
4. (historical) A sentence to serve as a rower in the galleys.^[5]
5. (historical) Each of the paddles of the paddle wheels of early steamboats.^[5]

Word family

• remare
• remata
• rematore
• remeggiare
• remeggio
• remigare
• remaio
• remiera
• remiero

Related words

• trireme
• Latin rēmus
• Ancient Greek ἐρετμόν (eretmón)

Usage notes

GRADIT also records a technical adjective and noun remo (1895), “of the Remi”, the Gaulish people who lived between the Marne and the Aisne, from Latin Rēmi.^[5] Nautical phrases include alzare i remi, armare i remi and tirare i remi in barca.^[5][11] Pronunciation varies between /ˈrɛ.mo/ and /ˈre.mo/;^[1][12] Florentine has the open vowel.^[1][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 790
4. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3227
8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 832