tortora

Forms

tortora f (plural tortore, diminutive tortorella)^[1] Archaic and popular tortola, with the two ⟨r⟩ dissimilated, and literary tortore.^[2][3][4][5] Old Italian forms include tortula, turtura and turture.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin turtur (“turtle dove”), a masculine and feminine noun, taken over from its accusative and moved into the feminine nouns in ⟨-a⟩.^{[7][8][2][6][9]} The Latin word is expressive: its doubled syllable ⟨tur-tur⟩ imitates the cooing of the bird.^{[7][8][10][9]} Devoto groups it with the imitative series of tubare “to coo”.^[9]

The word is pan-Romance: Old French tourtre (modern French tourterelle), Occitan tortor, Catalan tortra, Spanish tórtola, Sardinian tùrture and Aromanian turtură.^[8][11]

The colour sense “dove grey” comes from the colour of the bird's plumage.^[7][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a poem of Guido Guinizzelli, before 1276: Soletto come tortula voi' gire (“all alone like a turtle dove I want to go”).^[6][12][8] A Florentine convent register has the form tortore as a feminine singular in 1289.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Medieval writers made the bird a model of chastity and faithfulness: Bono Giamboni's translation of Brunetto Latini's Tresor describes the tortola as a bird of great chastity that lives in hollow trees, away from people.^[12][13] Franco Sacchetti writes that it never betrays its mate, and Pietro de' Crescenzi gives advice on keeping them in large numbers.^[13] Diminutives followed: tortorella in the 13th century, tortoretta in Berni in the 16th.^[8][14]

In similes the tortora stands, less often than the colomba, for a timid, innocent person, and a sweet, guileless girl can be called one.^[15][16] The use of tortora as an invariable adjective for a pale greyish beige dates from 1961.^[7] Zoologists use the name for the genus Streptopelia, and the collared dove (tortora dal collare orientale), from Asia, has largely replaced the turtle dove in Europe.^[15][16]

Timeline

• Before 1276 – Guido Guinizzelli uses tortula.^[6][8]
• 1289 – Tortore appears as a feminine singular in a Florentine convent register.^[7]
• Before 1294 – Tortora is recorded in Brunetto Latini.^[7][16]
• 13th century – The diminutive tortorella is recorded.^[8]
• 16th century – Berni uses tortoretta.^[14]
• 1771 – Tortora is recorded as the name of a kind of ray.^[14]
• 1961 – Grigio tortora “dove grey” is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur), a bird like a pigeon but smaller and slimmer, with a long tail and grey and pinkish plumage.^{[16][3][5][4]}
2. (zoology) Any of several birds of the dove family, especially of the genus Streptopelia: tortora dal collare orientale, the collared dove.^[16][3][15]
3. (figurative) A gentle, innocent young woman.^[16]
4. (masculine, invariable) dove grey, a colour between pale fawn and pinkish grey: Il divano era di un tortora chiaro.^[16][3][17]

Adjective

1. (invariable, after the noun) Dove grey: un impermeabile color tortora.^{[16][2][5][4]}

Word family

• tortorella
• tortorino

Related words

• tubare
• Latin turtur

Usage notes

The bird is tortora in Florence and tortola in some Tuscan dialects.^[13] The DEI records a separate tortora (1771), the name of a kind of ray or stingray, taken from French tourtre, which also means “turtle dove”.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
6. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3837
15. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ 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
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli