talea

Forms

talea f (plural talee)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin tālea (“cutting, slip; stake”), whose popular counterpart is taglia.^[2][1][3] Nocentini adds that the Latin word is also the source of tagliare and tagliola.^[4] In Latin it is an old technical word, found from Cato on.^[5]

Its origin is unknown.^[5][1] DELI holds that it was taken from some other language, because Indo-European had no root shaped ⟨*tal-⟩.^[2] GRADIT and Devoto–Oli call it pre-Latin, and Zingarelli and Devoto think of a Mediterranean language.^{[2][3][6][7][8]} The comparison with Ancient Greek τᾶλις (tâlis, “maiden, bride”), assuming a basic sense “green, sprouting”, de Vaan calls a wild guess; the only other proposal is a derivative of Latin tālus (“ankle, knuckle”).^[5][1][9] Nocentini favours the second, comparing malleolus, which meant both “ankle” and “cutting”, and its outcome magliolo.^[4] Tommaseo had derived the word from Ancient Greek θάλλω (thállō, “to bloom”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record to before 1320.^[3] DELI cites the Italian translation of Crescenzi, about 1350, in the sense “a piece of branch, shoot, leaf or root that grows into a new plant when set in the ground”: the medlar is planted in March or November con talee (“with cuttings”).^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

A masculine taleo is found in the Italian translation of Palladius, about 1340, but it was less used.^[2] Later agricultural writers kept the word: Vettori explains that pieces of branch about three quarters of a braccio long are what he calls talee.^[11][10] Tommaseo marked it as obsolete, saying barbatella and piantone had taken its place, but it is the ordinary botanical term today.^[10][3]

Modern horticulture distinguishes woody, semi-woody and herbaceous cuttings, and cuttings of roots or leaves;^[7][12][13] talea also names propagation by cuttings itself (riproduzione per talea).^[7][12][13]

Timeline

• Before 1320 – Talea is first recorded.^[3][7]
• About 1340 – The masculine taleo appears in the translation of Palladius.^[2]
• About 1350 – The translation of Crescenzi uses talee for cuttings.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany, agriculture) A cutting or slip: a piece of a plant, usually a branch with at least one bud, that puts out roots and grows into a new plant: Ho piantato tre talee di rosmarino.^{[3][6][14][12]}
2. Propagation by cuttings: moltiplicare per talea.^[12][13]

Word family

• taleaggio

Related words

• taglia
• tagliare
• magliolo
• Latin tālea
• Latin tālus

Usage notes

Crescenzi's translation was cited with the stress on the first syllable, tàlea, as the Latin would lead one to expect, and DEI calls talèa incorrect; but today talèa is the common pronunciation and tàlea the Latin one.^{[2][15][14][12]}

A separate talea in music, from Medieval Latin of uncertain origin and recorded in 1960, is a rhythmic pattern repeated throughout a melody, in Gregorian chant and in the music of the 14th and 15th centuries.^[3][7][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3703