tartufo

tartufo¹ truffle

Pronunciation

• /tarˈtu.fo/^[1]

Forms

tartufo m (plural tartufi)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the truffle is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *territūfer (“earth tuber”), from terra (“earth”) and a dialect form *tūfer of Latin tūber (“swelling, tuber”), with the ⟨f⟩ of Oscan and Umbrian.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Pliny and Petronius have the phrase “earth tuber”, and DEI cites a Late Latin territuberum in Diocletian's Edict on prices.^[2][8] Nocentini starts from older Italian tartufero and tartufolo, and Devoto explains the loss of the second ⟨r⟩ of the Latin accusative by dissimilation from the ⟨rr⟩ before it, with influence of tartaruga.^[3][9] GDLI gives the explanation as uncertain.^[10]

German Kartoffel “potato”, recorded from 1758, was borrowed from a northern Italian form such as tartùfol.^[3][8] Late Latin glosses have a form tūfera, the source of Occitan trufa, which gave French truffe and Spanish trufa.^[3] DEI lists dialect forms such as Venetian tartùfole and Sicilian tartùffulu.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and DEI date the word to the 15th century, in the Pataffio and in Burchiello.^[2][8] The Pataffio lists “Tartufi bergamaschi e pece greca” (truffles from Bergamo and Greek pitch), and Pulci sends someone to dig for truffles near Norcia.^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

A commentary on Dioscorides quoted by Tommaseo describes truffles as round roots without leaves or stem, eaten raw or cooked.^[11] The white truffle of Alba and the black truffle of Norcia are the most prized, and a cane da tartufi is a dog trained to find them; figuratively, a person with a nose for secrets.^[7][5][12]

Because the tip of a dog's nose looks like a small black truffle, tartufo has named it since 1970.^[2][7] Confectionery took the name for a round chocolate sweet and an ice-cream dessert covered in chocolate flakes (1965), which German borrowed as Tartufo.^[13][14][4] The tartufo di mare is the warty venus, an edible clam.^[14][12]

Timeline

• 14th century – Old Veronese tartùfula is recorded.^[8]
• 15th century – The Pataffio and Burchiello use tartufo.^[2][8]
• 1653 – Venetian tartùfole is recorded.^[8]
• 1758 – German Kartoffel “potato” is recorded.^[8]
• 1759 – Targioni Tozzetti uses tartufaia “truffle ground”.^[2]
• 1865 – Tartufare “to dress with truffles” is recorded.^[3]
• 1965 – Tartufo is used for a kind of ice cream.^[13]
• 1970 – Tartufo is recorded for the tip of a dog's nose.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A truffle: an underground fungus of the genus Tuber that lives on the roots of trees, prized in cooking for its strong scent: tartufo bianco, tartufo nero.^{[4][5][6][14]}
2. (colloquial) The tip of a dog's nose.^[4][14][12]
3. (figurative, colloquial) A nosy person.^[4]
4. A soft round sweet of chocolate or cream dusted with cocoa; a round ice-cream dessert covered in chocolate flakes.^[4][14][15]
5. (zoology) In tartufo di mare, the warty venus (Venus verrucosa), an edible clam.^[14][12][6]

Word family

• tartufaia
• tartufare
• tartufata
• tartufaio

tartufo² hypocrite

Pronunciation

• /tarˈtu.fo/^[1]

Forms

tartufo m (plural tartufi)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a hypocrite is borrowed from French tartufe, from Tartuffe, the hypocrite of Molière's comedy (1664).^{[2][3][4][5][16]} The French name itself comes from the Italian word for the truffle (homograph 1), and Treccani describes the Italian word as a figurative use of the name of the truffle on the French model.^[3][4][7] Zingarelli sees the hypocrite as “morally underground”, like the truffle.^[14]

The name was not Molière's invention.^[2][7] Migliorini, quoted by DELI, notes that the Italian word meant “hypocrite” in Italy from the early 17th century, in Della Porta and Lippi, which may be one reason Molière chose it.^[2] DEI finds the French word as a common noun in a pamphlet of 1609, and DIFIT gives that record the sense “boor”.^[8][13] A character named Tartufo, a hypocrite, already appears in Italian comedy at the beginning of the 17th century.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to 1819, in Pellico's articles in Il Conciliatore, where he writes of the Tartuffi of liberty, who could not forgive Chénier.^[4][10] Zingarelli gives 1797, and DELI and Sabatini–Coletti date it to Tommaseo's dictionary (1879), which explains it as a figurative use “perhaps from Molière's comedy”.^{[14][2][6][10]}

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word was used in politics and satire: Nievo wrote of tartufi who swarmed like weeds, and it was also used as an adjective, as in il secolo tartufo (the hypocritical century).^[10] The noun tartuferia, taken from French tartuferie, was called a short-lived newspaper word by Panzini in 1905.^[2] Tartufismo and tartufesco (1959) followed.^[14][3]

Timeline

• 1609 – French tartufe appears as a common noun in a pamphlet.^[8][13]
• Early 17th century – Della Porta and Lippi use tartufo for a hypocrite.^[2]
• 1664 – Molière's Tartuffe is staged.^[3][5]
• 1669 – French tartufe “hypocrite” is recorded.^[8]
• 1819 – Pellico uses tartufo in Il Conciliatore.^[4]
• 1879 – Tommaseo records the word.^[2]
• 1905 – Panzini records tartuferia.^[2]
• 1959 – Tartufesco is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hypocrite: a person who hides base feelings or dishonest aims behind a show of virtue and piety; a sanctimonious person.^{[4][5][6][15]}

Word family

• tartufesco
• tartuferia
• tartufismo