salvastrella

Forms

salvastrella f (plural salvastrelle)^[1]

Etymology

In DELI's view, with some doubt, it is from Latin silvestris (“wild”) with the diminutive suffix -ella, and GRADIT, Zingarelli, Sabatini–Coletti, the DEI and Wiktionary give the same origin.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} The GDLI and Devoto start from a phrase *erba selvestrella (“wild herb”), with the old form selvastrella later assimilated to the present form.^[7][8] The Latin adjective is formed from silva (“wood, forest”) with the suffix -estris.^[9][1]

Meyer-Lübke put the Italian word under the Latin adjective only with a question mark, beside Occitan souvert (“ugly”) in southern France.^[10] G. Alessio rejected the etymology in 1956: the Latin adjective was too general a word for a plant of meadows rather than woods, and its popular outcomes were limited to southern France and the Valais; he proposed a derivation from sanguisorba, which DELI finds too complex and unconvincing.^[2] A. Prati replied in 1958 that the adjective means “wild, uncultivated” and so suits a plant that does not grow in woods, that the lesser burnet grows in poor pastures, on walls and on rocks, and that general words such as primavera and prato have also given plant names.^[2]

Nocentini and Devoto–Oli explain it differently, as an alteration of the Tuscan dialect word sorbastrella under the influence of salvatico.^[11][12] The dialect word is formed from sorba, because the plant's oval fruits were likened to small sorb apples.^[11][12] Devoto, who accepted the link with silvestre, held that it could only be secondary, through the idea of “wild”, and that the remote origin remained obscure.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the form salbastrella in Sercambi's Novelle, about 1400, for the aromatic wild herb of the rose family with leaves of oval toothed leaflets and reddish flower heads.^[2] Devoto–Oli dates the variant selbastrella to the 14th century.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The herb was used in cooking and in drinks.^[7][13] In a sauce recipe Sermini lists selbastrella and rosemary among the herbs to take, and the Ricettario fiorentino equates serbastrella with filopendula, called pimpinella elsewhere.^[7] F. Redi advised steeping salvastrella or pimpinella in the water of Nocera, because it gave a good taste and a pleasant astringency.^[13][7]

Several forms competed: serbastrella appears at the end of the 15th century, selbastrella in Mattioli in 1544, selvastrella before 1556 in G. F. Bini, and salvastrella in the third edition of the Crusca dictionary in 1691 and in Redi before 1698.^[2][6] Tommaseo reports that Mattioli treated selvastrella as a genus different from salvastrella.^[13][2] A record of salvastrella that the Crusca dictionary quoted from a Libro della cura delle malattie was shown to be a forgery.^[2]

In modern botany the name covers the species of the genus Sanguisorba: the lesser or common burnet of dry and uncultivated ground, also called pimpinella, and the great burnet (salvastrella maggiore) of damp places, which has astringent, digestive, diuretic and haemostatic properties and leaves that taste like cucumber in salads.^[14][4]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – Salbastrella in Sercambi's Novelle.^[2]
• Late 15th century – Serbastrella in the Libro di sonetti.^[2]
• 1544 – Selbastrella in Mattioli.^[6]
• Before 1556 – Selvastrella in G. F. Bini.^[2]
• 1691 – Salvastrella in the third edition of the Crusca dictionary.^[2]
• Before 1698 – F. Redi uses salvastrella.^[2]
• 1956 – G. Alessio rejects the derivation from Latin silvestris.^[2]
• 1958 – A. Prati defends it.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) Salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor, Poterium sanguisorba): a perennial herb of the rose family with aromatic edible leaves, common in uncultivated meadows, also called pimpinella.^{[3][12][5][14][1]}
2. (botany) Any plant of the genus Sanguisorba: salvastrella maggiore is the great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis), used in herbal medicine as an astringent and haemostatic.^{[14][4][3][12]}

Related words

• pimpinella
• sanguisorba
• silvestre
• salvatico
• sorba
• Latin silvestris

Usage notes

Old and regional forms are salbastrella (Tuscan), selbastrella, selvastrella and serbastrella, and older sorbastrella.^[12][14][4] Zingarelli gives sanguisorba as a synonym.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
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
8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)