treno Italian · revision 38357

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1652, Vittorio Siri|origins=la trahō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtrɛ.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''treno''' ''m'' (plural treni)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|train]], a noun formed from [[m|fr|traîner|t=to drag, haul]], which comes from [[la-vul|*traginō|alt=*tragināre]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935) The Vulgar Latin verb is an extension of [[m|la-vul|*tragō|alt=*tragāre]], from [[la|trahō|t=to draw, drag]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The French noun meant the line of carts and animals that followed an army with its supplies (about 1190), later a string of boats (1660) and finally a line of wagons drawn by a locomotive (1828).^(DELI 1999) DELI and Nocentini explain that this last sense came from English [[m|en|train]], which had borrowed the Old French word, and returned to French early in the 19th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In Italian, Migliorini saw the word move from a lordly or military retinue to railway carriages under English influence, while Messeri thought the change could also have gone through phrases such as “a train of carts”.^(DELI 1999) [[es|tren]] also comes from French.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is military: in 1652 Vittorio Siri uses ''treno'' for the service that carried the materials of the artillery and the engineers.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Seventeenth-century historians write of the ''treno dell'artiglieria'', the artillery train.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century the word also meant the retinue of carriages and servants with which great lords travelled: Magalotti speaks of someone who travels the world ''con un nobilissimo treno'', with a most noble train.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|3884) ''Treno di vita'', “style of living”, modelled on French ''train de vie'', appears in the letters of the Verri brothers in 1766.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3884)

+

+ The railway sense is first recorded in 1826, in a translation from French by G. De Welz;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DEI|3884) Nocentini and Devoto–Oli date it to 1862, DEI to 1874.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DEI|3884) Later extensions include the ''treno stradale'', a lorry with trailer (1935), sets of tyres, gear trains and series of waves.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) ''Trenino'' is recorded from 1922, and also as a toy from 1955.^(DELI 1999) Modern Greek borrowed the word as [[el|τρένο|tr=tréno]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1190 – French ''train'' is recorded for an army's baggage train.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1652 – Vittorio Siri uses ''treno'' for the military transport service.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1766 – ''Treno di vita'' appears in the Verri letters.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1826 – ''Treno'' is used for a railway train.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1874 – Lessona's dictionary records the railway sense.^(DEI|3884)^(Prati 1951|1015)

+ * 1922 – ''Trenino'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1935 – ''Treno stradale'' is recorded for a lorry with a trailer.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(railways)'' A [[m|en|train]]: a line of railway carriages or wagons drawn by a locomotive: ''Il treno per Bologna ha venti minuti di ritardo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Any vehicle with trailers, as in ''treno stradale'' (a lorry with a trailer) and ''treno aereo'' (an aircraft towing gliders).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(military, historical)'' The transport service of the artillery and engineers before motorization, with its carts and animals.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(archaic)'' The [[m|en|retinue]] of carriages and servants of a great personage.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A complete set of tyres of a vehicle.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(mechanics)'' A set of meshing gears.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A series of related elements following each other at short intervals, as in ''treno di onde''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(zoology, motoring)'' ''Treno anteriore'' and ''treno posteriore'': the forelegs and hind legs of a quadruped, or the front and rear axle assemblies of a vehicle.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trenino]]

+ * [[retrotreno]]

+ * [[avantreno]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[traino]]

+ * [[trainare]]

+ * [[fr|train]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Idioms include ''perdere il treno'', to miss one's chance, and ''andare come un treno'', to go very fast.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) A separate learned word ''treno'', “dirge, threnody”, comes from Late Latin ''thrēnus'' (Ausonius), from Greek ''thrênos'' “funeral lament”; it is recorded as ''threno'' before 1649 in Alessandro Adimari, and Anton Maria Salvini (1726) used it for the Lamentations of Jeremiah.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}