palafreno

Italian

Alternative forms

• palafrino, pallafreno (obsolete)

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/
• 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]‎^[1], lines 133–134; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[2], 2^nd 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

• palafreniere

References

• palafreno in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• “palafreno”, in Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, volume 12 orad–pere, UTET, 1984, page 378