vermena

Forms

vermena f (plural vermene)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin verbena (“sacred boughs”), the Latin word that also gave the learned plant name verbena.^[2][3][4][1] Nocentini counts it among the direct descendants, beside French verveine and Spanish verbena.^[3] The REW also has Friulian vermene and the Languedoc form vermeno.^[5]

The Latin noun, mostly used in the plural, named the leaves and twigs of sacred evergreens such as laurel, olive and myrtle.^[2][6][7] Servius, quoted by DELI, says it was properly the herb with which the fetial priests were crowned when they made treaties or declared war.^[2] DELI holds that the Italian sense “young shoot” keeps the original meaning of the Latin word.^[2]

DELI connects it with verberō (“to beat with a rod”), since treaties were touched with the sacred plant to sanction them, and Nocentini derives it from verber (“rod”).^[2][3] The OLD and Wiktionary reconstruct an earlier ⟨*werbes-na⟩ and compare Lithuanian virbas (“twig, rod”) and Latvian virbs.^[8][1] Wiktionary traces it, perhaps, to Proto-Indo-European *werbʰ-.^[1]

The change of ⟨b⟩ to ⟨m⟩ is put down to association with verme “worm”.^[9][10][11] Devoto explains the association by the way climbing plants creep.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante's Inferno, where a soul surge in vermena e in pianta silvestra, “sprouts as a shoot and then a wild plant”.^[2][4][11] Boccaccio glossed the word as a thin rod, such as every plant puts out at its beginning.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In a passage quoted by the GDLI, Boccaccio set the vermena, too thin to be transplanted, against the pianta, which is stronger and ready for it.^[11] DEI records the diminutives vermenella and vermenetta in the 14th century, and a young chestnut tree in 1607.^[13] The Malmantile has the simile tremando forte come una vermena, “shaking hard like a sapling”.^[14][11]

The word stayed literary, used by Pulci, Monti, Pascoli and D'Annunzio.^[11] Modern dictionaries mark it as literary or uncommon.^[4][15][6] In botany it was also used for the plant verbena from 1839, and Wiktionary adds a figurative sense “descent, lineage”.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1300–1313 – Dante uses vermena for a young shoot.^[2][4]
• 14th century – The diminutives vermenella and vermenetta.^[13]
• 1607 – Vermena di castagno, a young chestnut tree.^[13]
• 1839 – Vermena as the name of the verbena plant.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A young, thin and pliant shoot or twig.^{[4][15][6][9]}
2. (botany) vervain, verbena.^[2][10][1]
3. (figurative) Descent, lineage.^[1]

Word family

• vermenella

Related words

• verbena
• French verveine

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4024
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier