ruota Italian · revision 39367

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1294, Brunetto Latini|origins=ine-pro *Hret-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈrwɔ.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ruota''' ''f'' (plural ruote, diminutive rotìna/ruotìna or rotìno m/ruotìno m or rotèlla or roticìna/ruoticìna or roticìno m/ruoticìno m, augmentative rotóna/ruotóna or (more common) rotóne m/ruotóne m, pejorative rotàccia/ruotàccia)^(Wiktionary)

+ The form without a diphthong, [[rota]], is popular or literary.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) Old and dialect forms include [[roa-oit|roa]] and [[roa-oit|roda]].^(GDLI|17, 254)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|rota|t=wheel]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The stressed short /ɔ/ in an open syllable became /wɔ/, written ⟨uo⟩, as is normal in Tuscan.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DEI notes that the unstressed forms of the family kept the plain vowel, so that [[rotare]] stands beside the diphthong of the noun.^(DEI|3297)

+

+ The same Latin word gave [[fr|roue]], [[oc|roda]], [[ca|roda]], [[es|rueda]], [[pt|roda]], [[sc|roda]] and [[ro|roată]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance feminine noun for “wheel” from every branch except Dalmatian.^(DÉRom)

+

+ De Vaan explains the Latin noun as the feminine of an old adjective “revolving”, from [[itc-pro|*rotā]], from a root [[ine-pro|*Hret-|t=to run, roll]].^(de Vaan 2008) Related words are [[lt|ratas|alt=rãtas|t=wheel]], [[goh|rad|t=wheel]] and [[sa|रथ|tr=rátha|t=chariot]], and the Celtic verb for “to run”, [[sga|rethid]], shows the idea behind the name.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) Devoto observes that the noun is missing in Greek, Armenian and Slavic.^(Devoto 1968|381)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Brunetto Latini, who died in 1294, for the round part of a machine that turns on an axle.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The ''Tesoro'' compares the course of the planets to an ant walking round a large wheel: ''intorno ad una grande ruota''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already before 1321 Dante used the word for many round or turning things, and the wheel of Fortune, a symbol of her instability, appears in the ''Inferno'': ''Però giri Fortuna la sua rota'' (“So let Fortune turn her wheel”).^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Old Italian also knew the wheel as an instrument of torture (before 1342), the grindstone (14th century) and the revolving hatch in the wall of an enclosed convent (before 1400), later also used to leave foundlings.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ Technical senses followed: the potter's wheel (1561), the stem and sternpost of a ship (1602, in Medieval Latin already in 1299), the wheel-lock of a firearm (1630), the drum of the lottery (1912) and each of the cities where numbers are drawn (1922).^(DELI 1999) The Ferris wheel, ''ruota panoramica'', and the freewheel hub of the bicycle, which gave the phrase ''a ruota libera'', belong to the 20th century.^(DELI 1999) ''Rotaia'' first meant the rut left by a wheel and, from 1840 the rail of a railway, displacing the English ''rail''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – The verb ''rotare'' appears in Bono Giamboni.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''ruota''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for anything round or turning.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for the wheel of torture.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti mentions the revolving hatch of a convent.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1561 – The potter's wheel is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1602 – The nautical sense “stem, sternpost” appears.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1840 – ''Rotaia'' is used for a railway rail.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1912 – Luigi Capuana uses ''ruota'' for the lottery drum.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – ''Ruota panoramica'' “Ferris wheel” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|wheel]] in a machine, a disc that turns on an axle and passes on movement: ''Le ruote dell'ingranaggio si sono bloccate.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A wheel of a vehicle: ''Mi si è bucata la ruota posteriore della bicicletta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A revolving hatch in the wall of an enclosed convent; also the foundling wheel of old charitable institutions.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # Anything round, a disc or circle: ''Ha comprato mezza ruota di pecorino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The fanned tail of a bird, especially in ''fare la ruota'', of a peacock.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A [[m|en|cartwheel]] in gymnastics.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # The lottery drum; each of the cities where lottery numbers are drawn.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(nautical)'' The [[m|en|stem]] or sternpost of a ship: ''ruota di prua''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(historical)'' The wheel as an instrument of torture.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rotaia]]

+ * [[controrotaia]]

+ * [[rotismo]]

+ * [[rotino]]

+ * [[arrotare]]

+ * [[arrotino]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rotare]]

+ * [[rotazione]]

+ * [[rotella]]

+ * [[rotolo]]

+ * [[rotondo]]

+ * [[rotula]]

+ * [[la|rota]]

+ * [[fr|roue]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common idioms are ''essere l'ultima ruota del carro'' “to count for least”, ''mettere i bastoni tra le ruote'' “to put a spoke in someone's wheel”, ''ungere le ruote'' “to grease palms”, ''a ruota libera'' “freely, without restraint” and ''ruota di scorta'' “spare wheel”, figuratively a stand-in.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}