lana Italian · revision 39324

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=ine-pro *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈla.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lana''' ''f'' (plural lane)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|lāna|t=wool]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is common to the Romance languages: [[fr|laine]], [[oc|lana]], [[ca|llana]], [[es|lana]], [[pt|lã]] and [[ro|lână]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*wlānā]] and an Indo-European word for wool, [[ine-pro|*h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its cognates include [[sa|ऊर्णा|tr=ūrṇā]], [[grc|λῆνος|tr=lênos]], [[lt|vilna]], [[got|𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌻𐌰|tr=wulla]] and [[en|wool]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan glosses the reconstruction as “plucked material”, and DELI, Nocentini and Devoto connect it with a root meaning “to pluck”, from a time when wool was pulled from the sheep rather than shorn.^(de Vaan 2008)^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) The link with [[la|vellus|t=fleece]] is not accepted by everyone.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Bono Giamboni, before 1292, uses ''lana'' for the hair of the sheep, and Brunetto Latini, before 1294, for the fibre obtained by shearing.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The ''Fiore'' in the 13th century has the yarn and cloth made from it.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Wool was the base of the medieval Tuscan cloth trade, and the old dictionaries record many kinds by quality and by the way it was taken: ''lana di garbo'', a fine wool from the lands the Arabs called Garb, ''lana agnellina'' from lambs, and ''lana morticina'' from animals that died naturally.^(GDLI|8, 728)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The merchant of wool, the ''lanaiolo'', is recorded from the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The name was extended to fibres like wool: ''lana di vetro'' (glass wool, 1895), ''lana d'acciaio'' and ''lana di roccia'', and to the fluff that gathers under furniture (1863).^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Figuratively ''lana'' is a person's nature: ''essere della stessa lana'' is to be of the same sort, and ''buona lana'' a rascal.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) ''Questioni di lana caprina'', pointless arguments, come from a line of Horace about disputing over goat's wool.^(DEI|2159)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''lana'' for the fleece of the sheep.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for the textile fibre.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – The ''Fiore'' uses it for woollen yarn and cloth.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1863 – Fanfani records ''lana'' for the fluff under furniture.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1895 – ''Lana di vetro'' “glass wool” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1957 – The sense “artificial fibre like wool” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The hair of [[m|en|sheep]] and of some other animals, such as goats and camels; [[m|en|wool]] as a textile fibre: ''Le pecore sono state tosate e la lana è nel sacco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Yarn or cloth made of wool: ''un maglione di lana''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A material in fine fibres like wool: ''lana di vetro'', ''lana d'acciaio'', ''lana di roccia''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' The fluff of dust and hair that gathers under furniture.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(botany)'' The thick soft down on some parts of plants.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person's nature, usually a bad one; a rogue, especially in ''buona lana''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lanaiolo]]

+ * [[laneria]]

+ * [[lanetta]]

+ * [[laniccio]]

+ * [[laniere]]

+ * [[laniero]]

+ * [[lanificio]]

+ * [[lanital]]

+ * [[lanolina]]

+ * [[lanoso]]

+ * [[lanugine]]

+ * [[lanuginoso]]

+ * [[lanuto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vello]]

+ * [[la|lāna]]

+ * [[fr|laine]]

+ * [[en|wool]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Lana vergine'' is new wool obtained by shearing, not recycled.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Questioni di lana caprina'' are futile arguments over trifles.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}