smeraldo

Forms

smeraldo m (plural smeraldi)^[1] Old forms are smeralda, feminine, and smiraldo.^[2][3] The GDLI also lists smaragdo, smaraldo, smarallo and smeragdo.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *smarāudus, a spoken form of Latin smaragdus (“emerald”), from Ancient Greek σμάραγδος (smáragdos).^[5][6][7][8] Wiktionary gives the Vulgar Latin form as *smeraldus.^[1] Medieval Latin has smaraldus, smeraudus and smiraldus.^[9]

According to Nocentini the cluster ⟨gd⟩ was dissimilated to ⟨ud⟩, and ⟨au⟩ then became ⟨al⟩, as in calma and salma.^[6][9] Devoto explains the ⟨al⟩ as a correction: the form with ⟨au⟩ was taken for a northern word and set right, in the same way as the outcome of Latin sagma.^[10]

The same word is French émeraude, Old Occitan esmerauda, Catalan esmeragda, Spanish esmeralda and Portuguese esmeralda.^[6][11][9] Old French also had esmeragde and esmeralde in the 12th century.^[2] The feminine gender of the Gallo-Romance words was already Greek, where the word could be of either gender.^[9]

The Greek word is a loan from the East, but its direct source is not certain.^[6][5] A Sanskrit form is closer in shape, but Akkadian barraqtu, from a root meaning “to shine”, gives a reason for the name and points to a Semitic origin.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a poem of Jacopo Mostacci of the Sicilian school, before 1250, with the sense “emerald, the green precious stone”.^[5][7] Bono Giamboni makes the emerald the sign of justice, la più bella che occhio d'uomo possa vedere, “the most beautiful that man's eye can see”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the Purgatorio Dante describes a dancing woman whose flesh and bones seemed made of emerald.^[4] In earlier times the name also covered other green stones, such as prase, jasper and malachite, and the emerald was believed to have healing powers.^[4] The adjective smeraldino, emerald green, appears as smiraldinj in 1294 and as smeraldino before 1333, in Arrigo Simintendi.^[5][2] Jacopone also uses smeraldino as the name of a coin.^[5][2]

Poets used the stone for the green of leaves and grass, as in Poliziano's tree che fronde ha di smeraldo e pomi d'oro, “which has leaves of emerald and apples of gold”.^[12][8] Smeraldo as an invariable colour adjective after a noun is recorded in 1835, in the Milanese press.^[5] The jewellery trade gives the name to other green stones: smeraldo orientale is a green corundum and smeraldo del Brasile a green tourmaline.^[13]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Jacopo Mostacci uses smeraldo.^[5]
• 1294 – Smiraldinj “emerald green” appears in a Florentine text.^[5]
• Before 1333 – Arrigo Simintendi uses smeraldino.^[5]
• 1835 – The colour adjective is recorded in Milan.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. emerald, a green variety of beryl coloured by chromium, prized as a precious stone.^[7][12][13]
2. A jewel, especially a ring, set with an emerald: Al dito portava uno smeraldo antico.^[7]
3. Emerald green, a bright intense green: verde smeraldo.^[7][12][8]

Adjective

1. (invariable, after the noun) Emerald-green: una cravatta smeraldo.^[7][14][15]

Word family

• smeraldino

Related words

• Latin smaragdus
• French émeraude

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
3. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ 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, p. 19, 165
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3517
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
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)
14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana