sala

sala¹ hall, room

Pronunciation

• /ˈsa.la/^[4]

Forms

sala f (plural sale)^[4]

Etymology

The hall is a Germanic word, but its route into Italian is debated.^[1][2] DELI, following Francesco Sabatini, and Sabatini–Coletti trace the sense “large room” to the Franks and later French influence: it is borrowed from Frankish *sala (“large room”), while Lombardic *sala, the Lombards' word, meant a farmhouse where the dues of the estate were collected, and survives only in place-names such as Sala Consilina.^[1][5] Nocentini, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Wiktionary name the Lombardic word as the source.^[2][3][6][4] DEI considers both Lombardic and a route through French salle.^[7]

The Germanic word is Old High German sal, German Saal and Old English sele, first a building with a single room.^[2][8][7] Zaccaria connects it with Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (saljan, “to stay, lodge”).^[8] It became feminine in Romance: salle, Occitan sala, Catalan sala, Spanish sala and Portuguese sala;^[2] Körting and DEI explain the French form and gender by halle.^[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first Italian record is Bono Giamboni, before 1292, and the word is already in the Medieval Latin of Venice in 1275, in “salam Maioris Consilii”, the hall of the Great Council.^[1] Giamboni advises building “camera e sala” (bedroom and hall) where the size of the house shows they fit best.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the sala was the largest room of a house, used for meals and feasts, and the main room of a palace.^[11][10] Salotto, a smaller room for receiving guests, is recorded in 1521, and its sense “social or cultural gathering” in 1895; salone follows in 1550.^[1]

Several modern phrases are calques: sala da pranzo and sala d'armi copy salle à manger (1636) and salle d'armes (1677), and sala macchine and sala stampa copy English engine-room (1839) and press-room (1902).^[1][10] The word now names any large room fitted for a purpose, from the sala operatoria to the sala giochi.^[3][12] English borrowed sala in 1611.^[13]

Timeline

• 1275 – Medieval Latin sala at Venice.^[1]
• Before 1292 – First Italian record, in Bono Giamboni.^[1]
• 1521 – Saloto in Cesare Cesariano.^[1]
• 1550 – Salone in Cosimo Bartoli.^[1]
• 1611 – English sala is recorded.^[13]
• 1895 – Salotto “social gathering”.^[1]
• 1931 – Salottiero, after French salonnier.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. The living room or reception room of a flat: Accomodatevi in sala, il caffè è quasi pronto.^[3][5][12]
2. The furniture of such a room.^[3]
3. A state room of a palace or castle; a room of a museum: Le sale del primo piano ospitano i dipinti del Seicento.^[3][14]
4. A hall or large room fitted for a particular use: sala d'attesa, sala operatoria, sala riunioni.^{[3][6][12][15]}
5. A room for performances, such as a cinema or concert hall; by extension, its audience: Alla fine del film la sala applaudì.^[3][12]
6. (nautical) A room on a ship with a particular function.^[5]
7. (historical) In the Middle Ages, a farmhouse; among the Germanic peoples, an enclosure around a dwelling.^[5][3][16]

Word family

• salone
• salotto
• saletta
• salottiero
• retrosala

sala² axle

Pronunciation

• /ˈsa.la/^[4]

Forms

sala f (plural sale)^[4]

Etymology

The axle is inherited from Vulgar Latin *axālis, from Latin axis (“axle”).^{[1][2][3][17]} Rohlfs started from a phrase Vulgar Latin *ferrum axāle (“axle iron”).^[18] The word came into Tuscan from the dialects of Emilia: in Tuscany the regular outcome is the doublet assale or asciale,^[1][4] while in Emilia Emilian l'assal was divided as la sal, and the noun became feminine and took the ending ⟨-a⟩.^[1][2][18]

The popular forms belong to northwestern Italy and spread into central Italy and southern France: Lombard assaa or Lombard saa at Milan, Emilian assal at Parma.^[18][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture, before 1320, which says of the elm that beams are made of its wood, “anche se ne fa sale” (and axles are also made of it).^[18][11]

Semantic evolution

The sala was first a beam of wood and later of iron or steel.^[18] Massimo D'Azeglio describes a carriage held up because “gli s'era rotta la sala” (its axle had broken), and De Amicis the creaking of the wooden axles of an ox cart.^[16] In railway language a sala montata is the axle with its two wheels fitted on.^[3][16]

Timeline

• Before 1320 – First record, in the translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi.^[18][3]
• 1597 – Soderini uses sala for the axle of a cart.^[18]
• 1833 – The Dizionario militare italiano defines the word.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. (mechanics) The axle that joins a pair of wheels of a cart, carriage or railway car: Durante la salita si spezzò la sala del carretto.^{[3][6][5][14]}
2. (railways) sala montata, a wheelset, the axle with its two wheels.^[3][16]