salmone

Forms

salmone m (plural salmoni)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian salamone, used by Pulci and still in 1770, and Old Italian sermone (16th century).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin salmō (“salmon”), through the accusative.^[5][6][7][1] The Latin word is of Celtic origin, according to DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT, and the likeliest source is Gaulish.^[5][6][7][1] DEI compares the river name ⟨Salmona⟩, a tributary of the Moselle named by Ausonius, and allows also a pre-Indo-European origin.^[2] A derivation from saliō (“to leap”) is rejected as folk etymology.^[2][1]

The same word is French saumon, Occitan saumon, Catalan salmó, Spanish salmón and Portuguese salmão.^[6][8][2] The Latin noun was also borrowed into Old High German salmo, modern German Salm.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Il Fiore, written between 1280 and 1310, for the fish of the cold northern Atlantic that swims up rivers to spawn.^[5][9] Nocentini and GRADIT date the word only from the 15th century, and DEI cites Pulci and Landino.^[6][7][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century Pulci wrote salamone, a form still used in 1770, and in the 16th century Berni and Bini wrote sermone.^[2][3]

Modern usage names many species of the family, such as salmone europeo, salmone rosso and salmone del Danubio.^[7] The colour of the fish's flesh gave the name of a pinkish-orange colour, used as an invariable noun and adjective.^[7][4][1] The family Salmonidi takes its name from scientific Latin Salmonidae (1884).^[6]

Timeline

• 1280–1310 – Il Fiore names the salmone.^[5][9]
• 15th century – Pulci writes salamone.^[2][3]
• 16th century – The form sermone appears in Berni and Bini.^[2][3]
• 1884 – Salmonide is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. salmon, especially the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): a large fish of the cold northern seas that swims up rivers to spawn; its prized flesh is eaten fresh, smoked or tinned: salmone affumicato.^[7][4][1]
2. Any of various species of the family Salmonidi.^[7]
3. (zoology) A fish of the genus Salmo; with a capital, the genus itself.^[7][4]
4. Salmon pink, a pinkish-orange colour like that of the fish's flesh.^[7][1]

Adjective

1. Salmon-coloured, of a pinkish-orange colour (invariable): una camicia salmone.^[7][4][1]

Word family

• salmonide
• salmonetto
• salmonoideo

Related words

• salmerino
• trota
• Latin salmō
• French saumon

Usage notes

Salmone is also a nautical term (before 1824) for a heavy block of cast iron, lead or concrete used as ballast or to anchor small buoys; it is formed from salma “load” with the suffix -one and is a separate word from the fish.^[7][10][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3320
3. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 868
4. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 421