scarola

Forms

scarola f (plural scarole)^[1] The variant scariola is still in use, and DELI records the older Old Italian scariuola.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin escariola (“endive”), a word recorded in the Latin glossaries,^[4][3][5][1] which DELI gives as a spoken Latin *escariŏla.^[2] It is a diminutive from Latin ēscārius (“edible, of food”),^[4][5][1] from ēsca (“food; bait”).^[2][4][6] De Vaan derives this noun from edō (“to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”).^[6][7]

Zingarelli and Gabrielli give a Late Latin scariola without the first vowel.^[8][9] Sabatini–Coletti explains the stress on the ⟨o⟩ as reshaped after the words with the suffix -olo.^[10]

French escarole, Occitan escarola, Catalan escarola, Spanish escarola and Portuguese escarola were borrowed from the Italian word.^[4][11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is scariuola in a 14th-century text on the cure of illnesses, and a Latin vocabulary of the same century glosses ascalonia as quedam herba que dicitur scarola, “a certain herb called scarola”.^[2] The form scarola itself is recorded at the end of the 15th century, in Avalos.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names a variety of endive with broad, wavy leaves, eaten raw in salads or cooked.^[5][3] In central Italy it is also a name for lettuce and chicory.^[10][8][5] Botanists use it, with scariola, for the wild lettuce Lactuca serriola.^[3][9]

The Italian word spread to the other Romance languages;^[7][11] Etymonline dates French scariole to the 13th century and traces English escarole (1897) to French.^[7][11] In Italian-American slang scarola means money, dollar bills, like English lettuce.^[1]

Timeline

• 14th century – scariuola is recorded in a medical text.^[2]
• 14th century – a Latin vocabulary glosses a herb que dicitur scarola.^[2]
• End of the 15th century – scarola is recorded in Avalos.^[2]
• 1897 – English escarole is first recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. escarole: a variety of endive with broad, wavy leaves (Cichorium endivia latifolia), eaten raw or cooked; also indivia scarola.^[5][3][1]
2. (regional, central Italy) lettuce; chicory.^[5][10][8]
3. (botany) The wild or prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola).^[3][9]
4. (US, Italian-American slang) Money, dollar bills.^[1]

Related words

• esca
• indivia
• French escarole

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter