New Insights into the Etymology of Italian 'avallo'

Abstract

The etymology of the Italian word avallo ‘personal guarantee for a bill of exchange or bank check provided by a third party’ has long been a subject of debate among lexicographers and legal historians. The prevailing view traces the term to the French aval, which carries the same meaning. This study revisits the history of avallo, examining its earliest attestations, which make it possible to backdate the term by four centuries. Drawing on these occurrences and a close analysis of their meanings, the paper re-evaluates a hypothesis originally advanced by Richard Grasshoff: that avallo may ultimately derive from the Arabic word ḥawāla, a legal concept in Islamic law involving the transfer of debt.