sparto

Forms

sparto m (plural sparti)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin spartum (“esparto; broom”), which is from Ancient Greek σπάρτον (spárton, “rope, cable”).^[2][3][4][1] Greek had both the neuter and a masculine σπάρτος (spártos), naming the plant as well as the ropes made from its fibres.^[3] DELI calls the Greek word Indo-European, without naming a root.^[2]

The Latin word was inherited as Spanish esparto and Portuguese esparto, while French sparte is learned.^[3] Derivatives name the esparto shoe: Catalan espardenya, Spanish esparteña and Portuguese espartenha.^[5] DEI adds a Pisan and Livornese word for shoes with esparto soles.^[6]

Nocentini warns that the same name passed between different plants: the Latin and Greek words probably meant the Spanish broom, not the grass the Italian word names today.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Cristoforo Landino, before 1498, for an African and Spanish grass whose leaves give fibre for ropes, nets, baskets and fine paper.^[2] DEI dates the word to the 14th century, and Zingarelli to 1340, but DELI thinks DEI's date is probably a mistake.^[2][6][8] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date it to the 16th century, and GRADIT to before 1556.^[3][9][4]

Semantic evolution

Luigi Alamanni's poem La coltivazione mentions two old cords di sparto o di giunco (“of esparto or rush”), and Targioni Tozzetti describes esparto being crushed and beaten with wooden mallets.^[10] Tommaseo equates the word with spartea.^[10]

The modern dictionaries use it for the grass Lygeum spartum and for the tough fibre of its leaves, used for ropes, mats, baskets and fishing nets and in making paper pulp.^[4][11][12] GRADIT also uses it for the related grass alfa, a use Wiktionary calls incorrect.^[4][1] Sparto pungente is another name for marram grass, ammofila.^[9][12]

Timeline

• Before 1498 – Cristoforo Landino uses sparto for the grass.^[2]
• Before 1556 – GRADIT's date for the plant name.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) esparto, a perennial Mediterranean grass with long, stiff, rush-like leaves (Lygeum spartum); sparto di Spagna and sparto pungente name related plants.^{[4][11][12][1]}
2. The strong fibre from its leaves, used for ropes, mats, baskets and nets and for paper pulp.^[4][11][13]
3. (proscribed) Another name for alfa, esparto grass of the genus Stipa.^[4][1]

Word family

• sparteria
• spartina

Related words

• alfa
• Latin spartum
• Spanish esparto

Usage notes

A separate obsolete and literary sparto (feminine sparta) is the old past participle of spargere, the same as sparso “scattered”, as in Dante's mirar le membra d'i Giganti sparte (“to gaze at the scattered limbs of the Giants”).^[4][9][12] It is recorded from the 14th century.^[3][9] The GDLI has two more old adjectives sparto “divided, dispersed” and “banished”, shortened participles of spartire.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3579
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 728