valle

Forms

valle f (plural valli)^[1] Before a consonant the shortened form val is used in place names (Val d'Aosta, Val di Sole).^[2][3] Guittone d'Arezzo used the word as a masculine in the 13th century.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vallis (“valley”), through its accusative.^[6][7][8][1] The word is pan-Romance: French val, Occitan val, Catalan vall, Spanish valle, Sardinian baḍḍe and Romanian vale.^[7][9] In French, Spanish and Portuguese it became masculine after the word for “mountain”.^[9] vallea, used by Dante, is a borrowing of French vallée.^[6][7][10]

The origin of the Latin word is unclear.^[11][1] DELI and Sabatini–Coletti connect it, with some doubt, with Latin volvō (“to turn, roll”), and Nocentini puts it in one family with valva (“door leaf”) and the same verb, in the sense “that which opens, runs downwards”.^{[6][2][7][12]} De Vaan finds no certain etymology: a link with the Greek region name Ancient Greek Ἦλις (Ēlis), if that meant “lowland”, is possible, but a derivation from a root meaning “to turn” is hard to square with the Latin sound changes.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Sienese document of 1235, with the sense “a low area of land between two mountain ranges”.^[5] DELI's first records are Dante (1300–1313) and Zucchero Bencivenni (1310).^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word was already used figuratively for the earthly world as a place of suffering, and for the valle di Giosafat, where the Last Judgement will take place; in Dante the valli are also the trenches of Hell.^[5] Valle di lacrime goes back to Church Latin in hac lacrimarum valle and is recorded in Feo Belcari in the 15th century.^[4]

Around the northern Adriatic the word names the shallow lagoon basins used for fish farming and hunting: Medieval Latin vallis is recorded in this sense at Venice in 1098, and Italian valle in 1581 in Francesco Sansovino.^[4][6] The derivative vallicoltura “lagoon fish farming” followed in 1937.^[6] Other derivatives are vallone (Dante, “narrow deep valley” in Boccaccio), vallata (before 1535, Berni), valligiano (before 1527, Machiavelli) and vallivo (1601).^[6]

Timeline

• 1098 – Medieval Latin vallis names a fishing lagoon at Venice.^[4]
• 1235 – Valle appears in a Sienese document.^[5]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses valle and the Gallicism vallea.^[6]
• 15th century – Feo Belcari writes valle di lacrime.^[4]
• 1581 – Francesco Sansovino uses valle for a lagoon fish basin.^[6]
• 1937 – Vallicoltura is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. valley: a long low area between two mountain slopes, usually with a river along it; capitalised in place names: la Valle d'Aosta.^[8][13][2]
2. (geography) A marshy low area near a river delta or a lagoon, used for fish farming: le valli di Comacchio.^[8][2][3]
3. (geography) A long narrow sea inlet, typical of the coasts of Istria and Dalmatia.^[8]
4. (figurative, literary) The earthly world as a place of suffering: questa valle di lacrime.^[8][3][14]
5. The trough of a wave, between two crests.^[2][8]
6. a valle: downhill, downstream; figuratively, at a later stage of a process: Le conseguenze si vedranno a valle.^[13][3][15]

Word family

• vallata
• vallone
• valletta
• valligiano
• vallivo
• vallicoltura
• avvallare
• avvallamento
• fondovalle

Related words

• Latin vallis
• French val

Usage notes

Per monti e per valli means “everywhere”.^[3][13] In older Italian the plural could be invariable.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3981
5. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1036
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 464
13. ^ 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
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 640