piccolo

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian piccolo (“small”), partly the adjective and partly its use as a noun for a small flute,^[2][3][4] short for flauto piccolo (“small flute”).^[5][6][7][8] Etymonline and Barnhart take the flute name through French piccolo,^[5][6] and the OED compares the French word, used for the instrument from 1828, and German Pikkolo.^[2] The Italian adjective is recorded from the 12th century and is, according to the OED, ultimately of imitative origin;^[2] Klein likewise derives it from an imitative base expressing littleness in children's speech,^[4] and Etymonline mentions a made-up children's word.^[5] Other proposals derive it from Italian picca (“point”), from Italian dialect picca, little,^[9] or from the root Vulgar Latin *pikk- (“little”), perhaps related to *piccō (“to pierce”), the source of pike.^[5][6] The American Heritage Dictionary relates it to Italian piccino, Portuguese pequeno and Spanish pequeño,^[7] and Collins compares French petit.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Etymonline records piccolo flute from 1809 and the noun for the small flute from 1830.^[5] In the OED the first noun sense is a small upright piano, in a 1831 advertisement in the Times, apparently short for piccolo piano, and the flute appears in 1841.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates the flute sense to 1841,^[9] and Barnhart to 1856.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In 1830 the Harmonicon complained that the octave flute was often miscalled a piccolo,^[5] and the OED still equates the word with octave flute.^[2] The adjective, naming the smallest or highest member of a family of instruments, is recorded from 1832, as in violino piccolo.^[2][9] The piano sense died out by about 1880.^[2] From 1875 the word named an organ stop with the tone of the flute.^[2][3] From 1904 it was also a waiter's assistant or junior page in a hotel or restaurant; the OED compares the Italian noun piccolo, junior waiter (1889) and German Pikkolo, apprentice waiter.^[2] In the United States, chiefly in the south-east and New York and especially among African Americans, a piccolo was a jukebox from 1938.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 1809 – in the phrase piccolo flute.^[5]
• 1830 – the small flute an octave above the ordinary flute.^[5] The OED's first record of this sense is from 1841.^[2]
• 1831 – a small upright piano (obsolete by 1880).^[2]
• 1832 – adjective, the smallest or highest-pitched of a family of instruments.^[2][9]
• 1875 – an organ stop with a piccolo's tone.^[2]
• 1904 – a waiter's assistant; a junior hotel page.^[2]
• 1938 – US regional, a jukebox.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small flute pitched an octave higher than the ordinary flute, the smallest of the flute family: The piccolo soared above the brass in the march.^{[10][9][2][3]}
2. A player of this instrument in an orchestra.^[3][11]
3. An organ stop with the penetrating tone of a piccolo.^[9][2][3]
4. A junior waiter's assistant in a hotel or restaurant; a busboy.^[9][2][3]
5. (US, regional) A jukebox.^[9][2]
6. (obsolete, 1831–1880) A small upright piano.^[2][3]

Adjective

1. Of a musical instrument, smaller and higher-pitched than the usual size.^[9][2]

Word family

• piccoloist

Usage notes

Besides piccolos, the plural piccoli, after Italian, is recorded.^[2][1] In American slang piccolo has also been used for the penis since the 1960s.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com