Borgomale is acomune (municipality) in theProvince of Cuneo in theItalian regionPiedmont, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast ofTurin and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) northeast ofCuneo.
The 15th-century castle in the village was formerly owned by the Falletti Marquises of Barolo. It was built on an existing fortification. It became a residential place after the passage ofBorgomale to Casa Savoia (1631, Peace of Cherasco), and figures among the "Open Castles" of Lower Piedmont.
The name of the village is connected with the concept of 'apple tree' (Italianmelo) and/or 'apple' (Italianmela) and the current denomination of the village, with '-male' ('bad', 'evil'), derives from abona fide paretimology produced over time by the local speakers and due to the confusion between Latinmălum, 'bad ', 'evil', and Latinmālum, 'apple 'and/or 'apple tree'.Borgomale was originally 'the village of apples', or 'the village of the apple trees', and, over time, it became 'the bad village', or 'the village of evil', due to the misunderstanding of the vowel 'quantity' of the Latin lexemes related to its toponym.[3]
