scombro

Forms

scombro m (plural scombri)^[1] Popular and regional forms are sgombro and, in Tuscany, sgombero.^[2][1] Southern dialects have Sicilian scurmu and Sicilian sgummu in Sicily, strumbu in Calabria and scrumme in Apulia.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin scomber, which is from Ancient Greek σκόμβρος (skómbros).^[5][6][7][1] The Greek word is of uncertain origin.^[5][8] Nocentini takes it as a loan from an unidentified source, as most Greek fish names are, and Wiktionary suggests a Pre-Greek origin.^[9][1]

The Latin word also lives on in Spanish escombro, which in Spanish names the young of the mackerel.^[4][3] The genus is named New Latin Scomber after it.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word before 1468 and Zingarelli to 1476;^[6][8][3] DEI names Cristoforo Landino among its 15th-century users.^[6][8][3] DELI's dated forms begin with sgombero in Luigi Pulci (1483), and give scombro only from 1560, the mackerel.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The three forms ran side by side: sgombero in Pulci, scombro in Zancaruolo (1560) and sgombro in Bartolomeo Scappi's cookbook (1570).^[5] Prati notes the local names of the fish: laxerto at Genoa, lanzardo at Venice, maccarello at Rome and lacierto at Naples.^[11]

In modern use scombro is the standard and scientific form, sgombro the popular one.^[2][12] The name covers several fishes of the family Scombridi, above all the common mackerel and the chub mackerel, scombro macchiato or lanzardo.^[10][6]

Timeline

• Before 1468 – First record of the word.^[6]
• 1483 – Luigi Pulci writes sgombero.^[5]
• 1560 – Scombro in C. Zancaruolo.^[5]
• 1570 – Sgombro in Bartolomeo Scappi.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. mackerel (Scomber scombrus), a sea fish with a spindle-shaped body, blue-green with dark wavy stripes on the back and silvery below, caught on a large scale and eaten fresh or preserved in oil: Stasera cuciniamo due scombri alla griglia.^{[6][2][8][12]}
2. (zoology) Any fish of the genus Scomber; with a capital, the genus itself, which also includes the chub mackerel.^[6][10]

Word family

• scombride
• scombroideo

Related words

• sgombro
• Latin scomber
• Spanish escombro

Usage notes

Common names of related fishes are formed with it: scombro macchiato or scombro occhi grossi (the chub mackerel, also lanzardo), scombro bastardo and scombro spagnolo.^[6][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3410
4. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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 h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ 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)
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 916
12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse