stadera

Forms

stadera f (plural stadere)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin statēra (“balance, scales”), in a northern form with /t/ voiced to /d/ between vowels.^[2][3][4] Battisti and Alessio note the northern forms Lombard stadéra and Venetian stadiera, and Devoto puts the voicing in Romagna.^[5][6] The Tuscan outcome without voicing is statea.^[5][7] Romansh of the Engadine has stadaira.^[8]

Latin took the word from Ancient Greek στατήρ (statḗr), in its accusative στατῆρα (statêra), the name of a weight and of a coin.^[3][9][1] The Greek word is from ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to set, place”), of the same root as Latin stō (“to stand”).^[3][1] Since the Greek word was only a weight, Gusmani, quoted by DELI, suggests that the Latin word took the sense “balance” on the model of lībra, which meant both a pound and a balance, and later lost the sense “weight”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded in Medieval Latin as staderia at Parma in 1255.^[2][10] The first Italian record is in Dante, before 1321, for the balance with unequal arms and a fixed weight sliding along the graduated arm.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The old texts have many forms, among them stadièra, stagièra, statèa and statera.^[10] Cavalca compared the Cross to a steelyard “in which everything is weighed for what it is worth” (nella quale si pesa ogni cosa quanto vale), and an old text from Prato lists a wooden statea with a lead counterweight.^[10] The counterweight is called romano, and Sacchetti plays on this in a tale: someone talks of “Romans”, “perhaps those of a steelyard” (forse da stadera).^[11] Galileo described the instrument in his mechanics.^[11]

The maker or seller, staderaio, appears as Medieval Latin staterarius in 1217–1219 and staderarius in Friuli in 1332, and in Italian in a Prato document of 1386.^[2] In modern use stadera a ponte is the weighbridge for lorries and railway wagons, and in some areas staderone names it too.^[12][9]

Timeline

• 1217–1219 – Medieval Latin staterarius, the maker of steelyards, is recorded.^[2]
• 1255 – Medieval Latin staderia is recorded at Parma.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses stadera.^[2]
• 1332 – Medieval Latin staderarius is recorded in Friuli.^[2]
• 1386 – Staderaio appears in a Prato document.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A steelyard: a balance with a single pan hung from one end of a long graduated beam, along which a fixed counterweight, the romano, slides; it is held up by a hook that acts as the fulcrum.^{[13][14][15][9]}
2. stadera a ponte: a weighbridge for road or railway vehicles.^[12][9][16]

Word family

• staderaio
• staderina
• staderone

Related words

• statere
• statea
• Latin statēra
• Ancient Greek στατήρ (statḗr)

Usage notes

The phrase pesare con la stadera del mugnaio is among the multiword expressions GRADIT records.^[13] Diminutive staderina, augmentatives staderona and staderone.^[12][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3612
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 423
7. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 945
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 30
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli