pietra Italian · revision 38870

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 13th century, Uguccione da Lodi|origins=grc πέτρα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpjɛ.tra/, /ˈpje.tra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pietra''' ''f'' (plural pietre)^(Wiktionary)

+ The oldest Italian form is [[roa-oit|piera]], in Uguccione da Lodi.^(DELI 1999)

+ Old and literary forms include [[roa-oit|petra]], [[roa-oit|preta]], [[roa-oit|preda]] and [[roa-oit|prea]].^(GDLI)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|petra|alt=pĕtra|t=rock, stone]],^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) itself [[bor|grc|πέτρα|tr=pétra|t=rock, stone]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The Greek word is of uncertain origin;^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|2911)^(GDLI) DEI calls it an Aegean relic word.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|2911)^(GDLI) In Latin it took the place of [[m|la|saxum|t=rock]] in many Romance areas,^(DEI|2911) and it is pan-Romance: [[fr|pierre]], [[oc|peira]], [[ca|pedra]], [[es|piedra]], [[pt|pedra]], [[sc|pedra]], [[rm|peidra]], [[fur|piere]], [[dlm|pira]] and [[ro|piatră]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The diphthong /jɛ/ is the regular Tuscan outcome of a stressed open /ɛ/ in an open syllable.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Many Italian dialects, Tuscan ones among them, have forms without it such as [[preta]] and [[preda]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is ''piera'' in Uguccione da Lodi, at the beginning of the 13th century, and ''pietra'' itself in the ''Novellino'', late in the century, in the sense “broken rock used for building or ornament”.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT dates the word to about 1250, and Sabatini–Coletti records ''petra'' as early as the 10th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The Florentine poet Monte Andrea writes ''Molt'è fol chi trar crede aqua di petra!'', “He is a great fool who thinks he can draw water from a stone!”^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Several phrases come from the Bible: ''pietra dello scandalo'' renders the stone of stumbling of Isaiah 8:14, taken up by Paul and Peter, and ''scagliare la prima pietra'' comes from the Gospel story of the woman taken in adultery (John 8:7).^(DELI 1999) Medieval and later science named many minerals and rocks with ''pietra'' and a qualifier, such as the ''pietra filosofale'' of the alchemists, ''pietra focaia'' (flint) and ''pietra serena'', a grey-blue sandstone of the northern Apennines used in building.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DEI|2911)

+

+ The word also came to mean a gravestone, a stone in the bladder or kidney, and a caustic stick of silver nitrate.^(GRADIT 2003) In place names it means “mountain, rock, crag”, as in Pietraligure and Pietramala.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Derivatives include ''pietraia'' (Dante, before 1321), ''pietroso'', and ''pietrisco'', recorded as Medieval Latin ''petrisclum'' at Castelfiorentino in 1305 and in Italian in 1826;^(DELI 1999) ''pietrina'', the flint of a lighter, dates from 1934.^(DELI 1999) In 2006 ''pietra'' is recorded for the stone of curling.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 10th century – ''Petra'' is recorded.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ * Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi writes ''piera''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – ''Pietra'' appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''petraia'' for a heap of stones.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1305 – Medieval Latin ''petrisclum'' is recorded at Castelfiorentino.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1550 – Vasari uses ''pietrificare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1826 – ''Pietrisco'' “crushed stone” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1934 – ''Pietrina'' “lighter flint” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|stone]], compact rock as a material for building and decoration: ''Le case del borgo sono tutte costruite in pietra grigia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A stone, a piece of rock of any size: ''Il ragazzo raccolse una pietra piatta e la fece rimbalzare sull'acqua.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(mineralogy)'' With a qualifier, a kind of rock or mineral: ''pietra preziosa'' ([[m|en|gemstone]]), ''pietra focaia'' ([[m|en|flint]]), ''pietra pomice'' (pumice).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A [[m|en|gravestone]], the slab that closes a tomb.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A [[m|en|calculus]], a stone.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A caustic stick, especially of silver nitrate.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(sport)'' In curling, the stone.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pietraia]]

+ * [[pietrame]]

+ * [[pietrificare]]

+ * [[pietrina]]

+ * [[pietrisco]]

+ * [[pietroso]]

+ * [[impietrire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sasso]]

+ * [[petrolio]]

+ * [[la|petra]]

+ * [[fr|pierre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common figurative phrases are ''cuore di pietra'', a hard, pitiless heart, ''metterci una pietra sopra'', to put something behind one, ''la prima pietra'', the foundation stone of a building or an enterprise, and ''pietra angolare'', a cornerstone.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) DEI also records an old Calabrian coin called ''pietra'', from Medieval Latin ''petrus'' (1456), a coin with the image of Saint Peter, and a Florentine ''pietra'' meaning beef or veal kidney.^(DEI|2911)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}