rotolo

Forms

rotolo m (plural rotoli)^[1] The old form is Old Italian ruotolo.^[2][3][4] Other old forms include ròdolo, rottolo and rùtulo.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin rotulus (“roll”), a diminutive of rota (“wheel”).^[4][6][2][1] DEI calls it a semi-learned word, used especially in northern Italy, where it tends to be replaced by rullo.^[7] The popular outcome of the Latin word is rocchio “block, chunk”.^[8]

The same Latin word gave French rôle, the source of Italian ruolo, Occitan rotle and Spanish rollo.^[4][8] The Latin word for “wheel” is from Proto-Indo-European; de Vaan takes it as the feminine of an adjective meaning “revolving”, from a root Proto-Indo-European *Hret- (“to run, roll”).^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 13th century ruotolo meant a rolled parchment, or the book of the tax collectors in France;^[10][4] Nocentini dates it to 1288–1290.^[10][4] The sense “cylindrical bundle” is first found in Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, before 1347, for a roll of wool.^[10][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries Ariosto and Buonarroti the Younger used ruotolo for a roll of documents, and the prophets were painted holding rolls of paper.^[11] Fagiuoli, before 1742, used the word for anything rolled up and first wrote a rotoli “headlong”, and figuratively “to ruin”.^[10] The adverb rotoloni “rolling over” is older (before 1584).^[10]

In palaeography rotolo is the scroll, the commonest form of the book in antiquity, and the medieval document kept rolled.^[6][12] Modern Italian uses it for rolls of paper, film or fabric, for a dish rolled around a filling, and regionally for a cut of beef.^[6][2]

Timeline

• 1288–1290 – Ruotolo is recorded for a rolled parchment.^[4][10]
• Before 1347 – Balducci Pegolotti uses ruotolo for a roll of wool.^[10][5]
• 15th century – The verb rotolare is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1584 – Grazzini uses rotoloni.^[10]
• Before 1742 – Fagiuoli uses a rotoli.^[10]
• 1873 – Srotolare is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A roll of thin material wound on itself: un rotolo di nastro adesivo.^[6][2]
2. A cylindrical bundle, such as a roll of coins.^[6][3]
3. (palaeography) A scroll of papyrus, parchment or paper, the book of antiquity.^[6][12]
4. (historical) A medieval document on rolled parchment; a tax register or roll of taxpayers.^[6][13]
5. (heraldry) A roll of arms used by heralds at tournaments.^[6]
6. (cooking) A dish of pastry or meat rolled around a filling and served in slices.^[6][2]
7. (regional) The girello, a cut of beef.^[6][12]
8. (colloquial) A roll of fat on the hips or belly.^[2]

Word family

• rotolare
• rotolamento
• rotolio
• rotolone
• rotoloni
• rotolino
• arrotolare
• srotolare

Related words

• ruota
• ruolo
• rullo
• rocchio
• Latin rotulus
• French rôle

Usage notes

Andare a rotoli means “to go to ruin”, and mandare a rotoli “to ruin”.^[13][3] A separate rotolo, older ruotolo, was an old unit of weight of southern Italy and Genoa, of 0.79 to 0.89 kg, still used in Malta; it comes from Arabic رطل (raṭl), itself from Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra).^[6][4][14] That word is recorded before 1275, and English borrowed it as rottala in 1625.^[4][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 136
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3288
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 137
15. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it