Accademia della Crusca

The (; ), generally abbreviated as La Crusca, is a Florence-based society of scholars of Italian linguistics and philology. It is one of the most important research institutions of the Italian language, as well as the oldest linguistic academy in the world.

The ''Accademia'' was founded in Florence in 1583, and has since been characterized by its efforts to maintain the purity of the Italian language. '''', which means "bran" in Italian, helps convey the metaphor that its work is similar to winnowing, as also does its emblem depicting a sifter for straining out corrupt words and structures (as bran is separated from wheat). The academy motto is ''"Il più bel fior ne coglie"'' ('She gathers the fairest flower'), a famous line by the Italian poet Petrarch. In 1612, the ''Accademia'' published the first edition of its dictionary, the ''Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca'', which has served as the model for similar works in French, Spanish, German and English.

The academy is a member of the European Federation of National Linguistic Institutes. Provided by Wikipedia