sarchio

Forms

sarchio m (plural sarchi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *sarclum, from Latin sarculum (“hoe”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Latin noun is formed from sāriō (“to hoe, weed”) with the instrumental suffix -culum.^[6][1] The verb sarchiare continues the Latin derivative sarculāre.^[2]

The same word is Occitan salcle, Spanish sacho and Portuguese sacho.^[3][7][8] French has derivatives of it in French sarclet and French sarcloir.^[8]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *sars-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sr̥s-i̯e/o- (“to cut off, weed”) for the Latin verb, perhaps from a root Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to cut off”) also seen in serra (“saw”).^[9] The Latin verb was written both ⟨sāriō⟩ and ⟨sarriō⟩, and which is older is unclear.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Pistoia document of 1297–1303, for a small hoe with a long wooden handle and a narrow blade, used to break up the surface of the soil and pull out weeds.^[10] DELI dates it from the translation of Crescenzi, about 1350, which says weeds are best removed “with the sarchio as with the hand”.^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

The tool has kept its name and use since the Middle Ages, though its form has varied: modern dictionaries describe a small hoe blade on one side and a curved two-pronged fork on the other.^[10][4][12] It serves to loosen the soil, earth up plants and cover seeds.^[12][13] Nineteenth-century agricultural writers recommend it for levelling ridges and planting.^[11]

The diminutive sarchiello and the verb sarchiare are older in the record than sarchio itself: Dante uses sarchiare in 1304–1308, and sarchiatore “weeder” is recorded in 1258.^[2]

Timeline

• 1258 – Sarchiatore “weeder” is recorded.^[2]
• 1297–1303 – A Pistoia document has the first record of sarchio.^[10]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses sarchiare.^[2]
• About 1340 – Sarchiello and sarchiatura appear in the translation of Palladius.^[2]
• About 1350 – The translation of Crescenzi uses sarchio.^[2]
• 1904 – Macchina sarchiatrice is recorded;^[2] sarchiatrice alone follows in 1922.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (agriculture) A hoe with a long wooden handle and an iron head shaped like a small zappa on one side and a curved two-pronged fork on the other, used for weeding and loosening the soil.^{[4][12][13][1]}

Word family

• sarchiello
• sarchiare
• sarchiatura
• sarchiatore
• sarchiatrice

Related words

• Latin sarculum
• Latin sāriō

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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b 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 Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 573
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)