What is "della crusca"

Della Crusca \Del"la Crus"ca\ A shortened form of Accademia della Crusca, an academy in Florence, Italy, founded in the 16th century, especially for conserving the purity of the Italian language.

Note: The Accademia della Crusca (literally, academy of the bran or chaff) was so called in allusion to its chief object of bolting or purifying the national language.

1796, from Italian Accademia della Crusca, literally "Academy of the Chaff," "the name of an Academy established at Florence in 1582, mainly with the object of sifting and purifying the Italian language; whence its name, and its emblem, a sieve" [OED].