suolo

Forms

suolo m (plural suoli)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin solum (“ground, base; sole of the foot”).^[2][3][4][1]

The same word is Occitan sol, Catalan sol and Spanish suelo, while French sol and Portuguese solo were passed on by learned transmission.^[3] The Latin word was also borrowed into Welsh sail.^[5][6]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *solom (“base, sole”).^[7][1] Its first meaning seems to have been “place of settlement”, and it is compared with Lithuanian salà (“island; village”), Proto-Slavic *selo (“village”) and Old High German sal (“dwelling, room”), the source of German Saal.^[3][7] De Vaan's reconstruction is Proto-Indo-European *se/olo- (“place, habitation”); since a form with /e/ would also give Latin ⟨solu-⟩, it is uncertain whether the root had /e/ or /o/.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the first record to 1262.^[8] DELI's first dated sense is “the top surface of the ground”, in Dante, before 1321: Ei provide a scalpitar lo suolo / con le sue schiere (Inferno 14).^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Dante also extended it to the surface of the sea, the marin suolo of Inferno 26.^[10][9] Boccaccio used it for a layer of things laid one on another, a sense now Tuscan.^[11][12] Old forms are solo and suole, and the old plural le suola survives in Tuscany for the soles of shoes.^[9][8]

Leonardo da Vinci, before 1519, used the form solo for the surface layer of the earth's crust formed by the weathering of rock, the sense of today's soil science.^[2] The sense “land, country” is recorded in the Milanese press in 1806.^[2] Twentieth-century technical phrases include effetto suolo, the ground effect that presses a racing car to the track.^[13]

Timeline

• 1262 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[8]
• 1313–1319 – GRADIT's and Nocentini's date for the word.^[4][3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the surface of the ground.^[2]
• Before 1519 – Leonardo da Vinci uses solo for the surface layer of the earth.^[2]
• 1806 – The sense “land, country” appears in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1840 – Sottosuolo is recorded.^[3]
• 1862 – Soprassuolo is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The ground, the surface on which one stands or walks;^[4][11][12] (uncommon) the floor of a room: Il vaso è finito al suolo in mille pezzi.^[4][11][12]
2. (geology) The surface layer of the earth's crust formed by the weathering of rock; soil as regards its composition: un suolo sabbioso e povero.^[4][8][14]
3. Land as regards its legal status or use: suolo pubblico, suolo edificabile.^[11][8][14]
4. (figurative, literary) Land, country: il suolo natio.^[4][11][12]
5. (poetic) The surface of a body of water.^[4][11][8]
6. (Tuscan) A layer of things laid one on another: un suolo di mele e un suolo di zucchero.^[11][12][8]
7. (Tuscan, usually plural le suola) The sole of a shoe.^[12][8][4]

Word family

• sottosuolo
• soprassuolo

Related words

• suola
• sala
• Latin solum
• Spanish suelo
• French sol

Usage notes

Radere al suolo means to raze to the ground.^[14][15] In Tuscany the plural is le suola in the sense “layer” and “sole of a shoe”.^[13][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
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 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. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3676
7. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
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. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli