erba Italian · revision 39211

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1224, Francis of Assisi|origins=la herba}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɛr.ba/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''erba''' ''f'' (plural erbe)^(Wiktionary)

+ The Latinizing spelling ''herba'' is also found.^(Wiktionary) In the dialects the word is [[nap|errewe]] in Naples and [[sc|erva]] in Logudorese Sardinian.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|herba|t=grass, herb, small plant]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is panromance: the same Latin noun gave [[fr|herbe]], [[oc|erba]], [[ca|erba]], [[es|hierba]], [[pt|erva]], [[sc|erva]] and [[ro|iarbă]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) Its learned derivatives [[erbaceo]], [[erbario]] and [[erboso]] were taken later from [[la|herbāceus]], [[la-lat|herbārium]] and [[la|herbōsus]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The origin of Latin “herba” is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini and Wiktionary follow the traditional view, which traces it to the root [[ine-pro|*gʰreh₁-|t=to grow, become green]], the root of [[en|grass]] and [[en|green]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan rejects the reconstruction “*gher-dh-” behind this view, because the root of [[la|grāmen|t=grass]] would have to be different, and finds no other explanation.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The Oxford Latin Dictionary, by contrast, compares [[ang|græd|t=grass]].^(OLD 2012) Devoto saw no Indo-European connection and thought of a Mediterranean stem, and DEI and the GDLI treat the word as a relic of a pre-Latin rural language.^(Devoto 1968)^(DEI|1508)^(GDLI|5, 225)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the ''Canticle of the Creatures'' of Francis of Assisi, of about 1224, which praises Mother Earth who brings forth “various fruits with coloured flowers and grass” (''diversi fructi con coloriti fiori et erba''): here the word means a low plant with a green, never woody stem.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|5, 225)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the end of the 13th century the ''Novellino'' uses the word for the grass that covers a field or meadow as a whole, and in 1344 the plural ''erbe'' is recorded for vegetables, the sense kept in the ''piazza delle erbe'', the fruit and vegetable market of many towns.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)^(GRADIT 2003) The old proverbial phrase ''fare d'ogni erba un fascio'', “to make one bundle of every herb”, that is, to lump together things that should be kept apart, has found new use in political language.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) Popular plant names formed with ''erba'' are very numerous: DEI counts about 2,500 in the dialects.^(DEI|1508)

+

+ Tommaseo separated ''erba'', the plants of fields and meadows, from ''erbaggio'', the plants of the kitchen garden, noting that ''erba'' could stand for ''erbaggio'' but not the other way round.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The phrase ''in erba'' came to describe someone at the beginning of a career, a doctor or painter still in training.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) In 1971 the ''Corriere della Sera'' recorded ''erba'' in drug users' slang for marijuana.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ Several derivatives were shaped by French: ''erborista'' and ''erboristeria'' follow French ''herboriste'' and ''herboristerie'', and ''erbivendolo'' was coined on the model of ''fruttivendolo''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) English used the Latinizing form ''herba'' from 1692 for a silk-like fabric first imported from India.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1224 – Francis of Assisi uses ''erba'' in the ''Canticle of the Creatures''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses the word for the grass of a field.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1280–1310 – The derivative ''erbaggio'' “edible herb” appears in the ''Fiore''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1344 – The plural ''erbe'' is recorded for vegetables.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1544 – Mattioli uses ''herbario'' for a book on medicinal plants.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1692 – English ''herba'' is recorded as the name of a fabric.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1835 – ''Erbivendolo'', a seller of vegetables, is first recorded according to Nocentini (1853 in DELI).^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1956 – ''Erbicida'' “herbicide” enters the dictionaries.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1971 – ''Erba'' is recorded in the sense “marijuana”.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A low [[m|en|plant]] with a soft, non-woody stem, usually green: ''Tra le pietre crescevano erbe selvatiche.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|grass]]: the herbaceous plants growing on a piece of ground, and the ground they cover: ''I bambini giocavano sull'erba del giardino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(chiefly in the plural)'' [[m|en|vegetable|alt=Vegetables]] and greens; also aromatic [[m|en|herb|alt=herbs]] used in cooking or medicine: ''Ho comprato le erbe al mercato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(slang)'' [[m|en|marijuana]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(botany)'' With a qualifier, the name of many particular plants: ''erba cipollina'' (chives), ''erba medica'' (lucerne).^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable, after a colour word)'' Grass-green: ''verde erba''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[diserbare]]

+ * [[erbaccia]]

+ * [[erbaceo]]

+ * [[erbario]]

+ * [[erbicida]]

+ * [[erbivoro]]

+ * [[erborista]]

+ * [[erboristeria]]

+ * [[erboso]]

+ * [[erbaggio]]

+ * [[erbaio]]

+ * [[erbaiolo]]

+ * [[erbivendolo]]

+ * [[erborare]]

+ * [[erbetta]]

+ * [[malerba]]

+ * [[erba cipollina]]

+ * [[erba medica]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[diserbante]]

+ * [[tagliaerba]]

+ * [[tosaerba]]

+ * [[la|herba]]

+ * [[fr|herbe]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common set phrases are ''in erba'' “budding, in the making” (''un pittore in erba''), ''fare d'ogni erba un fascio'' “to lump everything together”, and the proverb ''l'erba voglio non cresce neanche nel giardino del re'', said to someone who asks for something with “I want”.^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) Places where ''ci cresce l'erba'' are abandoned.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}