sala Italian · revision 38109

+ Italian has two main words spelled ''sala'': the common word for a hall or room, of Germanic origin, and a technical word for an axle, from Latin.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ {{homograph|1|hall, room}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsa.la/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sala''' ''f'' (plural sale)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The hall is a Germanic word, but its route into Italian is debated.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI, following Francesco Sabatini, and Sabatini–Coletti trace the sense “large room” to the Franks and later French influence: it is [[bor|frk|*sala|t=large room]], while [[lng|*sala]], the Lombards' word, meant a farmhouse where the dues of the estate were collected, and survives only in place-names such as Sala Consilina.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Nocentini, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Wiktionary name the Lombardic word as the source.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) DEI considers both Lombardic and a route through [[fr|salle]].^(DEI|3313)

+

+ The Germanic word is [[goh|sal]], [[de|Saal]] and [[ang|sele]], first a building with a single room.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zaccaria 1901)^(DEI|3313) Zaccaria connects it with [[got|𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=saljan|t=to stay, lodge]].^(Zaccaria 1901) It became feminine in Romance: [[m|fr|salle]], [[oc|sala]], [[ca|sala]], [[es|sala]] and [[pt|sala]];^(Nocentini 2010) Körting and DEI explain the French form and gender by [[m|fr|halle]].^(Körting 1907)^(DEI|3313)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first Italian record is Bono Giamboni, before 1292, and the word is already in the Medieval Latin of Venice in 1275, in “salam Maioris Consilii”, the hall of the Great Council.^(DELI 1999) Giamboni advises building “camera e sala” (bedroom and hall) where the size of the house shows they fit best.^(GDLI|17, 370)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the ''sala'' was the largest room of a house, used for meals and feasts, and the main room of a palace.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GDLI|17, 370) [[salotto|alt=Salotto]], a smaller room for receiving guests, is recorded in 1521, and its sense “social or cultural gathering” in 1895; [[salone]] follows in 1550.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Several modern phrases are calques: ''sala da pranzo'' and ''sala d'armi'' copy [[m|fr|salle à manger]] (1636) and ''salle d'armes'' (1677), and ''sala macchine'' and ''sala stampa'' copy English ''engine-room'' (1839) and ''press-room'' (1902).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|17, 370) The word now names any large room fitted for a purpose, from the ''sala operatoria'' to the ''sala giochi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) English borrowed ''sala'' in 1611.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1275 – Medieval Latin ''sala'' at Venice.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – First Italian record, in Bono Giamboni.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1521 – ''Saloto'' in Cesare Cesariano.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1550 – ''Salone'' in Cosimo Bartoli.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1611 – English ''sala'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1895 – ''Salotto'' “social gathering”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1931 – ''Salottiero'', after French ''salonnier''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The living room or reception room of a flat: ''Accomodatevi in sala, il caffè è quasi pronto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The furniture of such a room.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A state room of a palace or castle; a room of a museum: ''Le sale del primo piano ospitano i dipinti del Seicento.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A [[m|en|hall]] or large room fitted for a particular use: ''sala d'attesa'', ''sala operatoria'', ''sala riunioni''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A room for performances, such as a cinema or concert hall; by extension, its [[m|en|audience]]: ''Alla fine del film la sala applaudì.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(nautical)'' A room on a ship with a particular function.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(historical)'' In the Middle Ages, a farmhouse; among the Germanic peoples, an enclosure around a dwelling.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|17, 371)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[salone]]

+ * [[salotto]]

+ * [[saletta]]

+ * [[salottiero]]

+ * [[retrosala]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|axle}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1320, translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi|origins=la axis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsa.la/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sala''' ''f'' (plural sale)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The axle is [[inh|la-vul|*axālis]], from [[la|axis|t=axle]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(REW 1935) Rohlfs started from a phrase [[la-vul|*ferrum axāle|t=axle iron]].^(LEI|3, 2679) The word came into Tuscan from the dialects of Emilia: in Tuscany the regular outcome is the doublet [[assale]] or [[asciale]],^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) while in Emilia [[egl|l'assal]] was divided as [[m|egl|la sal]], and the noun became feminine and took the ending ⟨-a⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|3, 2679)

+

+ The popular forms belong to northwestern Italy and spread into central Italy and southern France: [[lmo|assaa]] or [[lmo|saa]] at Milan, [[egl|assal]] at Parma.^(LEI|3, 2679)^(DEI|3313)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture, before 1320, which says of the elm that beams are made of its wood, “anche se ne fa sale” (and axles are also made of it).^(LEI|3, 2679)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''sala'' was first a beam of wood and later of iron or steel.^(LEI|3, 2679) Massimo D'Azeglio describes a carriage held up because “gli s'era rotta la sala” (its axle had broken), and De Amicis the creaking of the wooden axles of an ox cart.^(GDLI|17, 371) In railway language a ''sala montata'' is the axle with its two wheels fitted on.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|17, 371)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1320 – First record, in the translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi.^(LEI|3, 2679)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1597 – Soderini uses ''sala'' for the axle of a cart.^(LEI|3, 2679)

+ * 1833 – The ''Dizionario militare italiano'' defines the word.^(GDLI|17, 371)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(mechanics)'' The [[m|en|axle]] that joins a pair of wheels of a cart, carriage or railway car: ''Durante la salita si spezzò la sala del carretto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(railways)'' ''sala montata'', a [[m|en|wheelset]], the axle with its two wheels.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|17, 371)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[asse]]

+ * [[de|Saal]]

+ * [[fr|salle]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third ''sala'' is the name of marsh plants such as sedge and reedmace, whose leaves are used to cover flasks and chairs.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI thinks it pre-Indo-European, while Nocentini derives it from ''erba sala'' “salted grass”, because the young leaves were eaten in salads.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}