It. utello

Abstract

Judging from the cultural and linguistic facts, an etymological relation between Italian utel/utello ‘oil jar’ (which is first recorded in the Decameron) and Arabic al-uṯāl ‘sublimation vessel’, as assumed by Alessio, must be rejected. The European reflexes of the Arabic term are marginal and strictly limited to the technical terminology of medieval alchemy. Italian utello shows significant semantic and morphological differences with respect to Arabic al-uṯāl. In addition, its presence in Tuscan dialects and its early metaphorical uses are clear indications of the popular roots of the term. Consequently, the utel of the Decameron is not to be considered a learned technicism of foreign origin, but a popular term that Boccaccio probably took from Tuscan colloquial speech. Etymologically it belongs to the family of Latin uter ‘leather bag for holding liquids’. For utello, an unattested *utellus is to be postulated, which corresponds to the well-known Latin derivational pattern of ager > agellus, niger > nigellus, culter > cultellus, etc.