palafreno

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited, with influence from freno (bit, brake), from Late Latin paraverēdus (horse for travel off public roads or to out of the way places), derived from Ancient Greek παρά (pará, from; near) +‎ Classical Latin verēdus (fast or light breed of horse; courier's horse; hunter).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pa.laˈfre.no/, /pa.laˈfrɛ.no/[1]
  • Rhymes: -eno, -ɛno
  • Hyphenation: pa‧la‧fré‧no, pa‧la‧frè‧no

Noun

palafreno m (plural palafreni) (literary, uncommon, historical)

  1. palfrey (small horse used in the Middle Ages for riding)
    Antonym: destriero
    Hypernym: cavallo
  2. (loosely) any riding or parade horse
    Hypernym: cavallo
    • 1316–c. 1321, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XXI”, in Paradiso [Heaven], lines 133–134; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:
      Cuopron d’i manti loro i palafreni, / sì che due bestie van sott’ una pelle
      They cover the horses with their cloaks, so that two beasts go under one cover

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ freno in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)