trifola

Forms

trifola f (plural trifole)^[1] The GDLI also records the spelling triffola.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Piedmontese trifola, a word of Piedmont and Lombardy also found in Emilia;^[3][4][5][6] Devoto–Oli gives the Piedmontese form as trüfla.^[3][4][5][6] Behind it is Late Latin tūfera, recorded in the glosses, a form of Latin tūbera (“tubers”), the plural of tūber (“swelling, tuber”), with an Osco-Umbrian ⟨-f-⟩ in place of ⟨-b-⟩.^[5][4][7][1] DELI notes the difficulty: forms with ⟨-f-⟩ belong to southern Italy, while this word is northern, and its ⟨tr-⟩ must come from a crossing, perhaps with Piedmontese tartifula (see tartufo).^[4] Nocentini and Zingarelli also speak of the attraction of a word beginning in ⟨tr-⟩.^[5][8] Devoto instead derives it from a dissimilated diminutive of tartufo, crossed with words beginning in ⟨tri-⟩.^[9]

Southern French offers the parallel Occitan trufa, which passed into French truffe (1344) and Spanish trufa; German Trüffel comes from the French word.^[5][10] The origin of tūber is unclear: de Vaan finds no good etymology, though it might belong to a root meaning “to swell”.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Angelo Brofferio's memoirs I miei tempi (1857), with the sense “truffle”.^[3][5][8] DELI's first date is Panzini's dictionary of 1908.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the single sense “truffle” and is still felt as northern, above all Piedmontese and Lombard.^[3][12][7] Writers used it in Piedmontese settings: Cesare Cantù recalls being treated to Barbera wine, triffole and breadsticks.^[2]

From it came trifolato, first “seasoned with truffle” (1897), then the name of a dish sliced thin and cooked with oil, parsley and garlic (1908), and the verb trifolare (1908).^[4][5][10]

Timeline

• 1857 – Angelo Brofferio uses trifola in I miei tempi.^[3]
• 1897 – Trifolato “seasoned with truffle” is recorded.^[4][5]
• 1908 – Panzini's dictionary records trifola, trifolato for thinly sliced dishes with garlic and parsley, and trifolare.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional, northern Italy) Truffle, tartufo.^{[3][6][12][8][7]}

Word family

• trifolato
• trifolare

Related words

• tartufo
• tubero
• French truffe

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3896
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse