sale Italian · revision 38263

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1233, Matasala di Spinello|origins=ine-pro *séh₂ls}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsa.le/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sale''' ''m'' (plural sali)^(Wiktionary)

+ In northern Italy and in Ladin the word is often feminine, as in much of Gallo-Romance, in Ibero-Romance and in Romanian.^(DEI|3316)^(GDLI|17, 393)^(DÉRom)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|sāl|t=salt]] through its accusative, a Latin word of Indo-European origin.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fr|sel]], [[oc|sal]], [[ca|sal]], [[es|sal]], [[pt|sal]], [[sc|sale]] and [[ro|sare]]: every Romance branch except Dalmatian has it.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DÉRom)

+

+ The Proto-Romance word was masculine, but in a large part of the Romance area it became feminine at an early date, together with the words for gall, milk, sea and honey.^(DÉRom) The masculine survives in Sardinian and spread again later into areas the feminine had taken.^(DÉRom)

+

+ The Latin noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*sāls]] and a [[ine-pro|*séh₂ls|t=salt]], with the ablaut of the Indo-European paradigm still visible in Latin.^(de Vaan 2008) Its relatives include [[grc|ἅλς|tr=háls|t=salt; sea]], [[sga|salann]], [[lv|sāls]], [[cu|соль|tr=solĭ]] and, from an extended stem, [[got|𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄|tr=salt]], [[goh|salz]] and [[en|salt]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record DELI gives is in the Sienese ''Matasala'' of 1233, with the sense “sodium chloride”, the salt used to season and preserve food.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Latin ''sal'' also meant wit, and Italian took up both figurative senses early: “good sense, judgement” in Brunetto Latini before 1294 and “wit, sharpness” in the vernacular Albertano around 1300.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) In chemistry the word was extended to any compound formed from an acid and a base, first in the name ''sale armoniaco'' in Francesco Balducci Pegolotti before 1347.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Literary Italian also used it for the sea, as Dante does: ''metter potete ben per l'alto sale / vostro navigio'' (“you may well launch your ship on the deep salt”).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The phrase ''restare di sale'', to be struck dumb, goes back to the biblical story of Lot's wife, turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at Sodom.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) Dante's line ''Tu proverai sì come sa di sale / lo pane altrui'' (“you will learn how salty another's bread tastes”) gave ''sapere di sale'', to be bitter and hard to bear.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Avere sale in zucca'', literally “to have salt in the pumpkin”, means to have good sense.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) In Tuscan and in Rome ''salare la scuola'' is to play truant, like ''marinare la scuola'', which Prati explains as “putting it in salt” to keep it for later.^(Prati 1951|867)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The derivatives are old: the verb ''salare'' around 1340, ''salato'' before 1294, and ''salgemma'', rock salt, named for the gem-like shape of its crystals, in the 14th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Saliera'', the salt cellar, is French ''salière''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 973 – Medieval Latin ''salina'', a salt pan, is recorded at Ravenna.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1233 – ''Sale'' “salt” appears in the Sienese ''Matasala''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the word for good sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Around 1300 – The vernacular Albertano uses it for wit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1347 – Pegolotti writes of ''sale armoniaco'', the first chemical sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Around 1350 – ''Salgemmo'', later ''salgemma'', rock salt, is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1701 – The verb ''salificare'', to turn into a salt, is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1855 – Fanfani records ''salare'' “to play truant”.^(Prati 1951|867)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|salt]], sodium chloride, the white crystalline substance used to season and preserve food: ''Ho dimenticato di mettere il sale nell'acqua della pasta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A ''salt'' in general, a compound formed by the reaction of an [[acido|alt=acid]] with a [[base]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(chiefly in the plural)'' Smelling salts, once used to revive someone who has fainted.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Good sense, judgement: ''avere sale in zucca'', to have one's head screwed on.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Wit, sharpness of speech or writing, and in the plural a witty remark: ''una commedia senza sale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(literary)'' The [[mare|alt=sea]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[salare]]

+ * [[salato]]

+ * [[saliera]]

+ * [[salina]]

+ * [[salino]]

+ * [[salinità]]

+ * [[salgemma]]

+ * [[salatura]]

+ * [[salagione]]

+ * [[salatino]]

+ * [[salificare]]

+ * [[salifero]]

+ * [[saligno]]

+ * [[salume]]

+ * [[insalata]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[salso]]

+ * [[salsa]]

+ * [[la|sāl]]

+ * [[fr|sel]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sale'' is also the plural of [[sala]] “hall, room”.^(Wiktionary) In commercial language the English word ''sale'' (“sale”), plural ''sales'', has been used since 1989, mostly in fixed phrases.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The Latin phrase ''cum grano salis'' (“with a grain of salt”) is more common than its Italian rendering ''con un grano di sale''.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}