Category: Italian (italiano)

Lord of the Marches

By Simon

How do you pronounce the word marquis? This is something I was discussing with a friend the other day, and we concluded that there is no one right way to say it.

Marquis de Lafayette

In the UK, one way to pronounce marquis is [ˈmɑː.kwɪs] (mah-kwis), although some people prefer to pronounce it [ˈmɑː.ki] (mah-kee). In General American, it is apparently pronounced [mɑɹˈki] (mar-kee) or [ˈmɑɹ.kwɪs] (mar-kwis). Other pronounciations are no doubt available

What is a marquis, you may ask. According to Wiktionary:

  1. A nobleman in England, France, and Germany, of a rank next below that of duke, but above a count. Originally, the marquis was an officer whose duty was to guard the marches or frontiers of the kingdom. The office has ceased, and the name is now a mere title conferred by letters patent or letters close.
  2. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Bassarona (or Euthalia).

It literally means “lord of the march” (march as in border country), and comes from Middle English markis (marquis), from Old French marchis (marquis), from Midieval Latin marchensis, from Old High German marcha (border, march) and/or Frankish *markōn (to mark, notice), from Proto-Germanic *markō (border, boundary, region,area), from Proto-Indo-European *mórǵs (border, boundary) [source].

Related words in English include:

  • marquisate = the territory held by a marquis, margrave or marchioness; the state or rank of a marquis
  • marquess = a man ranking beneath a duke and above an earl (an alternative spelling of marquis)
  • marquise = marquee; an oval cut gemstone with pointed ends; a canopy
  • marquee = a large tent with open sides, used for outdoors entertainment; a projecting canopy over an entrance
  • marchioness = the wife of a marquess; a woman holding the rank of marquess in her own right
  • march = a formal, rhythmic way of walking, used especially by soldiers, by bands and in ceremonies; to walk with long, regular strides, as a soldier does; border region, especially one originally set up to defend a boundary (archaic, historical)
  • margin = the edge or border of any flat surface

Words from the same roots in other languages include mark (field) in Danish, mark (ground, land, soil, territory) in Swedish, margen (margin, edge, leeway) in Spanish, bro (region, country, land, neighbourhood, border, boundary) in Welsh, brolo (small vegetable garden) in Italian [source].

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Bloody Pencils

By Simon

One Italian word that I learnt recently is matita, which means pencil, but looks nothing like words for pencil in other languages I know, so I wondered where it comes from.

Maita [maˈti.ta] comes from ematite (haematite), from Latin (lapis) haematites (‘haematite (stone)’, a red-coloured gem), from Ancient Greek αἱματίτης (haimatítēs – bloodlike), from αἷμα (haîma – blood, race, stock, kin) [source]. It has been borrowed into Armenian as մատիտ (matit – pencil) [source].

Words from the same roots include αίμα (aíma – blood) in Greek, words beginning with haem(o)- in English, such as haemocyte (a blood cell), haemopathy (any disorder or disease of the blood), haemorrhage (a heavy release of blood within or from the body), and emoteca (blood bank) in Italian [source].

Hematite

Haematite / Hematite (Fe₂O₃) is a kind of iron oxide, is found in rocks and soils in many places. It occurs naturally in such colours as black, sliver-grey, brown, reddish-brown and red, and rods of haematite were once used as pencils. It is also used to make jewellery and other art.

Ochre, a clay containing varying amounts of haematite, which give it a red, brown, yellow or purple colour, has been used as a pigment in decoration, drawing and writing for a very long time. The earliest known examples of human use were found at the Pinnacle Point caves in South Africa, and date from about 164,000 years ago.

Incidentally, ochre comes from Old French ocre, from Latin ōchra (ochre, yellow earth), from Ancient Greek ὤχρα (ṓkhra – yellow ochre), from ὠχρός (ōkhrós pale, sallow, wan) [source].

More information about haematite and ochre:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochre

Lapis Lazuli, Polished Stones

Another word for pencil in Italian is lapis, which also means sanguine (blood-red, blood-coloured), and comes from Latin lapis (haematites) ((haematite) stone), from Proto-Italic *lapets (stone). Related words in other languages include llapis (pencil) in Catalan, lapes (pencil) in Maltese, lápiz (pencil) in Spanish, and lapidary (a person who cuts and polishes, engraves, or deals in gems and precious stones), and lapis lazuli (a deep-blue stone used in jewellery [see above], and to make pigment) in English [source].

You can find out about the origins of the English word pencil in the post Pens and Pencils.

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Squally Showers

By Simon

One of the words that came up in my Spanish lessons recently was chubascos, which it translated as (rain) showers. I wondered where it comes from, and thought I’d investigate.

Chubasco.

In Spanish, chubasco [tʃuˈβ̞as.ko] means downpour, squall, heavy shower, setback or a rain shower, particularly one associated with heavy wind. In nautical usage, it refers to a dark cloud which suddenly appears in the horizon, potentially foretelling rough sailing conditions [source].

Related expressions include:

  • chubascos dispersos = scattered showers
  • chubasquero = a waterproof raincoat
  • aguantar el chubasco = to weather the storm

Chubasco comes from Portuguese chuvasco (downpour, shower), or from Galician chuvasco (downpour, shower), which both come from Old Galician-Portuguese chuvia (rain), from Latin pluvia (rain, a shower), from pluit (to rain, be raining), from Proto-Italic *plowō, from Proto-Indo-European *plew- (to flow, float, wash) [source].

The word chubasco [tʃuːˈbɑːskəʊ] also exists in English and refers to a violent squall with thunder and lightning, encountered during the rainy season along the Pacific coast of Central America and South America. It was borrowed from Spanish [source].

Words from the same roots include chuva (rain) in Portuguese, choiva (rain) in Galician, lluvia (rain, rainfall, stream, barrage, shower, spray) in Spanish, and pioggia (rain, shower) in Italian pluie (rain) in French, and pluvious (involving or related to rain, rainy) in English [source].

By the way, someone who loves rain, and/or finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days, or an organism that thrives in a rainy environment is a pluviophile and is pluviophilious, and another name for a rain gauge is a pluvioscope [source].

Other rain-related words in Spanish include:

  • llover = to rain
  • llovedizo = rain, leaky
  • llovizna = drizzle
  • lloviznar = to drizzle, mizzle
  • lluvioso = rainy
  • pluvioso = rainy, pluvious
  • pluvial = rain, pluvial (of, pertaining to, or produced by rain)

Incidentally, the English word rain comes from Middle English reyn (rain, shower), from Old English reġn (rain), from Proto-West Germanic *regn (rain), from Proto-Germanic *regną (rain), possibly from pre-Germanic *Hréǵ-no-, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreǵ- (to flow). It’s cognate with Regen (rain) in German, regn (rain) in Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish, rõki (drizzling rain) in Lithuanian, and regar (irrigate, water, scatter, hose, ruin) in Spanish [source].

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Strong Strings

By Simon

Are the words string, strong, strength, strait, stretch and strict related? Let’s find out.

Ball of string

String comes from Middle English streng (rope, cord, line, thread, string, ribbon, muscle, tendon, ligament, filament), from Old English strenġ (string, rope, cord), from Proto-West Germanic *strangi (string), from Proto-Germanic *strangiz (string), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (to twist; rope, cord), possibly from *sterh₃- (to spread, extend, stretch out) [source].

English words from the same roots include constrict, constrain, restrict, strong, strength, strain, strait, stress, strict, stricture and stringent.

Words from the same roots in other languages include stringere (to clasp, grasp, squeeze) in Italian, étreindre (to hug, clutch, grip) in French, streng (strict, severe, rigorous, unbending, cruel) in Dutch, sträng (strict, stern, severe) in Swedish, strangs (brave, brisk, fresh) in Latvian, rankka (burdensome, hard, intense, harsh, tough) in Finnish [source].

So, the odd one out in the list above is stretch, which comes from Middle English strecchen (to stretch out, spread, extend), from Old English streċċan (to stretch, extend, spread out, prostrate), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (to stretch, make straight), from *strak (stretched, straight), from Proto-Germanic *strakaz (stretched, straight) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg- (stiff, rigid).

Words from the same roots include stark in English, stark (strong) in German, strak (taut, tight) in Dutch, strække (to stretch) in Danish, and shtriqem (to stretch) in Albanian [source].

Here’s a tune from the music session I went to last night called The Bishop of Bangor’s Jig. It’s played on string instruments (fiddle, guitar and banjo), so is sort connected to the theme of this post.

You can find the dots: https://www.folktunefinder.com/tunes/94828

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Go Climb a Tree

By Simon

Was the b in climb ever pronounced? Or was it added by interfering busybodies to make it more like a Latin root? Is it related to clamber? Let’s find out.

Climbing wildcat

Climb comes from Middle English climben [ˈkliːmbən] (to scale, scale, soar, extend, reach), from Old English climban [ˈklim.bɑn] (to climb), from Proto-West Germanic *klimban (to climb), from Proto-Germanic *klimbaną [ˈklim.bɑ.nɑ̃] (to climb), possibly from *klibaną/*klibāną (to stick, cleave), from Proto-Indo-European *gleybʰ- (to stick, cling to) [source].

So the b was pronounced in Middle and Old English, and maybe it became silent when the word lost its en ending.

Words from the same roots include climbing, cleave, cliff and maybe clamber in English, klimmen (to climb) and kleven (to stick, glue, be sticky) in Dutch, kleben (to glue, stick) in German, and klífa (to climb) in Icelandic [source].

A word for to climb in Latin was scandere / scandō, which also means to ascend, mount or clamber. It comes from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (to jump, dart, scale, scan). Words from the same roots include ascend, descend, transcend, scale, scan, and possibly scandal and slander in English, ascendere (to go up, ascend, rise) in Italian, skandera (to chant) in Swedish, and esgyn (to ascend) in Welsh [source].

One of the tunes that was played at the music session I went to last night is called If you do not love me, go climb a tree (it may have other names) and goes something like this:

It inspired me to write this post. If you recognise the tune and know it by another name, do let me know.

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Hydraulic Plumbers

By Simon

A lot of the words in Italian are similar to words in Spanish, French or other Romance languages I know, but quite often I come across a word that doesn’t seem familiar at all. For example, idraulico (plumber) – a bit different from plombier in French, plomero in Spanish.

Idraulico Livorno

Idraulico [iˈdraw.li.ko] means plumber, plumbing or hydraulic in Italian. It comes from Latin hydraulicus, from Ancient Greek ὑδραυλικός (hudraulikós – of a water organ), from ὕδραυλις (húdraulis – water organ), from ὕδωρ (húdōr – water) and‎ αὐλός (aulós – pipe) [source].

Words from the same roots include hydraulic, hydrate and hydrofoil in English, hydraulique (hydraulic) in French, and υδραυλικός (ydravlikós – plumber, hydraulic engineer, hydraulic) in Greek, hydraulik (plumber) in Polish [source].

The French word plombier (plumber, plumbing), the Spanish word plomero (plumber, plumbing), and the English words plumber and plumbing, all come from Latin plumbārius (plumber, of or pertaining to lead), from plumbum (lead [metal], pipe of lead), possibly from Ancient Greek μόλυβδος (mólubdos – lead), or from Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom (lead) [source].

Related words from the same roots include piombo (lead, grey, bullet), piombino ([lead] seal, sinker [weight], plummet) in Italian, plomb (lead [metal], fuse, sinker [fishing weight]) in French, Plombe (seal, lead seal [dental] filling) in German, and plwm (lead, leaden) in Welsh [source].

The Spanish word plomero is used for plumber in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Uruguay. Other Spanish words for plumber include: fontanero in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, gásfiter in Chile, gasfitero in Ecuador and Peru, and tubero in the Philippines [source].

Are there interesting words for plumber in other languages?

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Kinder Kinder

By Simon

There’s a joke / meme that goes something like No matter how kind you are … German children are Kinder.


from Imgflip Meme Generator

This is a bilingual pun – in German Kinder means children, while in English kinder means nicer, more gentle, generous, affectionate, etc. These two words look alike, but are they related? Let’s find out.

The German word Kind (child, kid, offspring) comes from Middle-High German kint (child), from Old High German kind (child, descendants), from Proto-West-Germanic *kind (child), from Proto-Germanic *kindą, *kinþą (child), from Pre-Germanic *ǵénh₁tom, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (to produce, beget, give birth) [source].

Kind in English means such things as having a benevolent, courteous, friendly, generous, gentle, liberal, sympathetic or warm-hearted nature or disposition; affectionate, favourable, mild, gentle or forgiving. It can also mean a type, category (What kind of nonsense is this?); goods or services used as payment (They paid me in kind), or a makeshift or otherwise atypical specimen (The box served as a kind of table).

Kind as in benevolent comes from Middle English kinde, kunde, kende (kind, type, sort), while kind as in type comes from Middle English cunde (kind, nature, sort) / kynde (one’s inherent nature; character, natural disposition), and both come from Old English cynd (sort, kind, type, gender, generation, race) / ġecynd (nature, kind, class), from Proto-West-Germanic *kundi / *gakundiz, from Proto-Germanic *kinþiz (kind, race), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis (birth, production), from *ǵenh₁- (to produce, beget, give birth) [source].

So, the German Kind and the English kind do ultimately come from the same roots. Are German Kinder kinder though, or are they the Wurst, and somewhat gross?

Other words produced, beget and given birth to by the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵenh₁- include: kind (child), koning (king, monarch) and kunne (gender, sex) in Dutch, cognate, engine(er), gender, gene, general, genesis, genetic, genial, genius, gentle, kin, king, nature, oxygen and progeny in English, König (king) in German, nascere (to be born, bud, sprout) in Italian, gentis (tribe, genus, family, kin) in Lithuanian, geni (to be born, birth) in Welsh [source].

Incidentally, the English word child is not related to the German word Kind. It comes from Middle English child (baby, infant, toddler, child, offspring), from Old English ċild (child, baby), from Proto-West Germanic *kilþ, *kelþ, from Proto-Germanic *kelþaz (womb; fetus), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt- (womb), or from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (to ball up, amass). It is related to kuld (brood, litter) in Danish, and kelta (lap) in Icelandic though, and possibly kalt (cold, chilly, calm) and kühl (cool, calm, restrained) in German [source].

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Pasting Meals

By Simon

The Italian words pasto and pasta look and sound similar, but are they related? Let’s find out.

ristorante italiano in NYC

Pasto [ˈpa.sto] means meal, and comes from Latin pāstus (fed, nourished, consumed, pastured, satiated, satisfied), from pāscor (to feed oneself, to eat, graze, feed, nourish, pasture, browse, from Proto-Italiac *pāskōr (I am fed, driven to pasture) from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (to protect, ward, shepherd) [source].

Words from the same roots include feed, fodder, food, pasture and repast in English, paître (to graze), repas (meal), and possibly pain (bread) in French, pascere (to graze) in Italian, and pasto (pasture, lawn, grass) in Spanish [source].

Pasta

Pasta [ˈpa.sta] in Italian means dough, pastry, pasta, cake or paste, and can also refer to the nature or mo(u)ld of a person, e.g. sone tutt’e due delle stessa pasta = they’re both cast from the same mo(u)ld [source].

Here are some examples of how the word pasta is used in Italian:

  • pasta in brodo = noodle soup
  • pasta fatta in casa = home-made pasta
  • pasta frolla = shortcrust pastry
  • pasta sfoglia = puff pastry
  • pasta all’uovo = egg pasta
  • pasta dentifricia = toothpaste
  • pasta di mandorle = almond paste

It comes from Late Latin pasta (paste, pasta), from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá – barley porridge), from παστός (pastós – sprinkled with salt), from πάσσω (pássō – to sprinkle), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷeh₁t- (to shake).

Words from the same roots include παστός (pastós – salted, preserved with salt, corned) in Greek, quash (to defeat decisively, suppress, void) in English, quassare (to shake, agitate) in Italian, casser (to break) in French, and , cascar (to crack, split) in Spanish [source].

In British English, pasta refers to Italian pasta, that is, dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating [source]. Types of Italian pasta include calamarata, cannelloni, farfalle, fettuccine, fusilli, gnocchi, lasagne, linguine, macaroni, orecchie d’asini, orecchiette, penne, radiatori, spaghetti, tagliatelle, tortellini, vesuvio, and vermicelli [source].

One of those types of pasta I made up. Do you know which one?

In American English, the word noodle(s) apparently can refer both to Italian pasta, and Asia noodles, while in the UK, noodle(s) normally only refers to Asia noodles, such as Japanese ramen. What about in other varieties of English?

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Satorial Tailoring

By Simon

What links the word satorial with the words tailor in various languages? Let’s find out.

PenHaligon's Sartorial

The word sartorial means:

  • Of or relating to the tailoring of clothing.
  • Of or relating to the quality of dress.
  • Of or relating to the sartorius muscle ( a long muscle in the leg.

It comes from New Latin sartorius (pertaining to a tailor), from Late Latin sartor (mender, patcher, tailor), from Latin sarcire (to patch, mend), sarciō (to patch, botch, mend, repair, restore, to make amends, recompense), from Proto-Indo-European *serḱ- (to mend, make good, recompense) [source].

Words from the same roots include sastre (tailor) in Spanish, Tagalog and Chavacano, xastre (tailor) in Asturian, Galician and Portuguese, sarto (tailor) in Italian, sertir (to crimp, set, socket [jewellery]) and the surname Sartre in French, and the obsolete English word sartor (tailor) [source].

The English word tailor, which refers to a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothes professionally, especially suits and men’s clothing, comes from Middle English taillour (tailor), from Anglo-Norman tailloru (tailor), from Old French tailleor (tailor), from taillier (to cut, shape), from Late Latin tāliō (retaliation, to cut, prune), from Latin tālea (rod, stick, stake, a cutting, twig, sprig), the origins of which are uncertain [source].

Related words include tally (any account or score kept by notches or marks) in English, taille (size, waist) and tailler (to cut) in French, Teller (plate, dish) in German, táille (fee, charge) in Irish, talea (cutting, scion) in Italian, and taior (woman’s suit) in Romanian tajar (to cut, slice, chop) in Spanish [source].

I was inspired to write this post after learning that tailor in Spanish is sastre, and wondering where it comes from.

By the way, Happy New Year! Blwyddyn newydd dda! Bonne année ! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! 新年快樂！ 新年快乐！ Felice anno nuovo! 新年おめでとうございます! Bliain úr faoi shéan is faoi mhaise duit! Bliadhna mhath ùr! Blein Vie Noa! Ein gutes neues Jahr! Feliĉan novan jaron! Поздравляю с Новым Годом! Šťastný nový rok! Godt nytår! Gott nytt år! La Mulți Ani! Onnellista uutta vuotta! 🎆🎉🥂🥳

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