palla Italian · revision 38994

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=lng *palla}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpal.la/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''palla''' ''f'' (plural palle)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|lng|*palla]], the Lombardic word for “ball”, which matches [[frk|*balla]] behind [[balla|t=bale]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Devoto 1968) Migliorini, quoted by DELI, argued that words showing the High German consonant shift (⟨palla⟩ and ⟨panca⟩ beside ⟨balla⟩ and ⟨banca⟩) can only be Lombardic, or later loans from Old High German.^(DELI 1999) Meyer-Lübke put the Frankish and the Lombardic word under one etymon: the first gave the Italian word for “bale” and [[fr|balle]] (and so [[es|bala]] and [[pt|bala]]), the second only this Italian word.^(REW 1935)

+

+ The LEI is more cautious: it accepts a pre-Roman base ⟨*ball-⟩ or ⟨*pall-⟩ “rounded body”, mostly Alpine and Pyrenean, with pre-Roman suffixes and a sense “boulder” in its dialect forms;^(LEI|4, 597) Sganzini had thought of a very old Alpine substrate word drawn towards the word for “bale” by folk etymology.^(LEI|4, 597) Merlo, Meyer-Lübke and Hubschmid defended a Germanic root, and the LEI still counts at least a partial Lombardic influence as likely, because the core senses of the forms with ⟨p-⟩ (“globe”, “playing ball”) match [[goh|bal]] exactly.^(LEI|4, 597) Wiktionary traces the Germanic word to [[gem-pro|*balluz]] or [[gem-pro|*ballô]] and to [[ine-pro|*bʰel-|t=to blow, swell]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, for a round object;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Dante has the playing ball in 1304–1308.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In the ''Convivio'' Dante tells how Seneca saw “una palla di fuoco”, a ball of fire, in the sky when the emperor Augustus died.^(GDLI|12, 407)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Petrarch has the three golden balls that beat Atalanta in the race, and Dante the golden balls (''palle dell'oro'') that brought glory to Florence in ''Paradiso'' 16.^(GDLI|12, 407)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) With firearms the word passed to the stone or iron shot of cannon (end of the 15th century, Biringuccio, before 1537, still calls it a new thing in war) and then to the bullet (1532, Ariosto).^(DELI 1999) The ball fixed to a convict's foot is recorded in 1868 (Carducci), the white and black balls used for voting in a Lucca document of 1580, and the plural “testicles” in Belli in 1841 (in Romanesco already in 1831).^(DELI 1999) From that sense come ''che palle!'' “what a bore!” and ''palloso'' “boring” (1980).^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Games gave a family of compounds: ''pallacorda'', the old game from which tennis developed (''palle da fare alla corda'' in Berni before 1535, ''pallacorda'' in 1666), and ''pallamaglio'' (1545).^(DELI 1999) In the 20th century ''pallacanestro'' (1935, after ''palla al canestro'' in 1920) and ''pallavolo'' were modelled on English ''basketball'' and ''volleyball'', ''pallanuoto'' corresponds to ''water polo'' and ''pallabase'' (1963) to ''baseball''.^(DELI 1999) Set phrases include ''cogliere la palla al balzo'' “to seize the moment” and ''palla al piede'' “a millstone round one's neck”.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''palla'' for a round object.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for a playing ball.^(DELI 1999)

+ * End of the 15th century – ''Palla'' is used for cannon shot.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1532 – Ariosto uses it for a bullet.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1580 – A Lucca document has voting balls.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1666 – ''Pallacorda'' is recorded as one word.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1841 – Belli has the plural for “testicles”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1868 – Carducci mentions the convict's ball and chain.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1935 – ''Pallacanestro'' “basketball” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|ball]], any round object: ''una palla di neve'', a snowball, ''la palla dell'occhio'', the eyeball.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A ball used in games and sports: ''I ragazzi giocavano a palla nel cortile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(sport)'' A play or shot in a game: ''Ha sbagliato una palla facile davanti alla porta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(historical)'' A [[m|en|cannonball]]; any [[m|en|bullet]] or projectile of a firearm.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(historical)'' The iron ball chained to a prisoner's foot.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' A round charge on a shield.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A [[m|en|fib]], a lie: ''Non credergli, racconta solo palle.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(vulgar, usually plural)'' [[m|en|testicles]]; figuratively a bore, something tedious: ''che palle!'', “what a drag!”^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pallone]]

+ * [[pallina]]

+ * [[pallino]]

+ * [[palloncino]]

+ * [[pallottola]]

+ * [[palleggiare]]

+ * [[palleggio]]

+ * [[pallettone]]

+ * [[palloso]]

+ * [[impallare]]

+ * [[rimpallare]]

+ * [[rimpallo]]

+ * [[impallinare]]

+ * [[appallottolare]]

+ * [[pallacanestro]]

+ * [[pallavolo]]

+ * [[pallanuoto]]

+ * [[pallamano]]

+ * [[pallacorda]]

+ * [[pallamaglio]]

+ * [[pallabase]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[balla]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two minor words share the spelling: one is the ''palla'' of Roman women, a wide outer robe, a learned word from [[la|palla|t=mantle]] recorded from the 14th century (''Livio volgarizzato''); de Vaan finds no etymology for the Latin word, which may be a loan.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(de Vaan 2008) The other is the ''palla'' that covers the chalice at Mass (1313), perhaps the same word.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|12, 410) DELI numbers the robe 1 and the ball 2, while Nocentini and GRADIT put the ball first.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}