tufo

Forms

tufo m (plural tufi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin tūfus, the form of the Late Latin glosses, a variant of classical tōfus (“tuff, porous volcanic stone”).^[2][3][4][5]

The Latin word was a dialect word: DELI points to the ⟨f⟩ kept between vowels, and calls its origin obscure and separate from the family of tubus (“pipe”).^[2] Nocentini reads the internal ⟨f⟩ and the ⟨ō⟩ beside ⟨ū⟩ as signs of an Oscan source, a word tied to the volcanic land of Campania.^[3] De Vaan also thinks it probably a loan from Sabellic because of the ⟨f⟩,^[6] and Wiktionary adds a possible Proto-Italic *tūβos, from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”).^[1] DEI sees it as a relic of the substrate spread from Campania, and compares Etruscan tupi (“stone (?)”) and Basque tupa (“slate”);^[7] Devoto and the OLD also connect it with the Etruscan word.^[8][9]

The word lives on in the southern Italian dialects and in Corsican tufu.^[10][7] French tuf comes from Italian, while Spanish toba continues Vulgar Latin *tōfa.^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Nocentini date the first record to before 1320;^[4][3] DELI's first record is the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi's treatise on farming, about 1350, where the word names a rock formed from cemented fragments of volcanic origin.^[2][11] The translation says that tuff and the harder stones, when frost and sun loosen them, make very fine vineyards.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Old texts use the word for soft volcanic ground and stone: Franco Sacchetti writes that Christ's tomb was cut in solid rock, so that the Jews could not say it had been dug in tuff or in the earth.^[12] An older form tofo is found in Tansillo.^[11] In the 17th century Redi used tufo for the chalky nodules of gout, an old variant of tofo.^[13][7]

The derivative tufaceo is recorded before 1730 in Vallisnieri, and in the sense “made of tuff” in a report on Boiano of 1811–1812.^[2] Modern geology distinguishes many kinds, such as tufo basaltico and tufo calcareo.^[4][5]

French borrowed it as tuf, which passed it on to Portuguese, German and English: English tuff is dated 1569 and tufa 1770.^[7][13][14]

Timeline

• Before 1320 – first record of Italian tufo.^[4][3]
• About 1350 – the Italian translation of Crescenzi uses tufo for the volcanic rock.^[2]
• 1471 – French tuf, taken from Italian, is recorded.^[7]
• 1569 – English tuff is recorded.^[7]
• Before 1730 – Vallisnieri uses tufaceo.^[2]
• 1770 – English tufa is recorded.^[7][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geology) tuff: a pyroclastic rock made of consolidated volcanic ash, lapilli and blocks, usually in layers, used as a building material, especially in antiquity and in central and southern Italy: Le case del borgo sono costruite in tufo.^[4][15][16]

Word family

• tufaceo
• tufoso
• tufello
• tufite

Related words

• tofo
• Latin tofus
• French tuf

Usage notes

GRADIT lists a separate tufo “stench, foul smell” (also “stifling heat”), recorded from 1931 and widespread in the dialects, which it and Treccani derive from Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “smoke, vapour”).^[4][5] DEI gives many dialect forms of it, such as Lombard and Romagnol tuf and Abruzzese tufà “to stink”.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3926
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 Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1022
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 437
14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
15. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse