terroso

Forms

terroso (feminine terrosa, masculine plural terrosi, feminine plural terrose)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin terrōsus (“rich in earth, loamy”), an adjective found in Vitruvius.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin word is formed from terra (“earth”) with the suffix -ōsus.^[5][1] GRADIT instead treats it as an Italian formation with the suffix -oso on the noun for earth.^[6]

The same Latin adjective is continued by French terreux, recorded from the 13th century, Occitan terros, Spanish terroso and Portuguese terroso.^[7][8][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI dates the first record to 1329, in D. Dini.^[4] Tommaseo quotes a passage from Dini's treatise on horses in which an animal becomes broken-winded from eating damp, mouldy or terrosa fodder, that is, fodder mixed with earth.^[9] Zingarelli dates the word to 1372;^[2][10][6] DELI and GRADIT give the 16th century.^[2][10][6]

Semantic evolution

DELI dates the sense “mixed with earth” to 1574, in P. Vettori, who writes of water left torbida e terrosa (“muddy and earthy”), and “soiled with earth” to before 1571, in Cellini, who says that mastic is mostly gathered terroso from the ground.^[10][9] The sense “resembling earth in appearance” is recorded only in 1939–40, in Palazzi's dictionary.^[10] An old spelling with one r, teroso, also occurs.^[3]

In chemistry DEI records ossidi terrosi from 1879.^[4] The metalli terrosi were the elements of the third group of the periodic table, named after the earthy look of their oxides;^[11] Treccani calls the term little used today.^[11] The word can also mean earth-coloured, the same as terreo, as in Capuana.^[6][11]

Timeline

• 1329 – D. Dini uses terroso.^[4]
• 1372 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[2]
• Before 1571 – Cellini uses it for something soiled with earth.^[10]
• 1574 – P. Vettori uses it for water mixed with earth.^[10]
• 1879 – Ossidi terrosi is recorded in chemistry.^[4]
• 1939–1940 – Palazzi records the sense “resembling earth”.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Containing earth, mixed with earth: un torrente terroso dopo il temporale.^[6][12][2]
2. Dirty with earth: stivali terrosi.^[6][13][14]
3. Like earth in appearance or consistency: una polvere terrosa.^[6][12][13]
4. Earth-coloured; ashen.^[6][11]
5. (chemistry, dated) In metalli terrosi, the elements of the third group of the periodic table, such as aluminium and boron, named after the look of their oxides.^[15][2][12]

Related words

• terra
• terreo
• terriccio
• Latin terrōsus
• French terreux

Usage notes

The s is pronounced voiced or voiceless, /terˈro.zo/ or /terˈro.so/.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3767
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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)
12. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana