tornasole

Italian

Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-der.
    Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos)bor.
    Latin tornus
    Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
    Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
    Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
    Proto-Italic *-āō
    Latin -ō
    Latin tornō
    Italian tornare
    Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥
    Latin sōl
    Italian Sole
    Italian tornasole

    Verb-object compound, composed of torna (“to turn”) +‎ Sole (“Sun”). Compare modern Italian girasole.

    Sense 2 originated from litmus originally being taken from said plant. Compare French tournesol and Spanish tornasol.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /tor.naˈso.le/
    • Rhymes: -ole
    • Hyphenation: tor‧na‧só‧le

    Noun

    tornasole m (countable and uncountable, plural tornasoli)

    1. (countable)
      2. (archaic, dialectal) sunflower
        Synonym: girasole
      4. turnsole, giradol (Chrozophora tinctoria)
    3. (uncountable, chemistry) litmus (substance)
      Synonym: laccamuffa (rare)
      cartina tornasole ― litmus paper

    Further reading

    • tornasole in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
    • tornasole in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication

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