acquaio

Forms

acquaio m (plural acquai)^[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Latin aquārium (“watering place, water vessel”), the neuter of the adjective aquārius (“of or for water”) used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] The adjective continues the Latin adjective itself.^[3][6][1] That adjective is formed from Latin aqua + -ārius.^[1][4]

All the Italian forms point to a base Vulgar Latin *acquarium with a lengthened /kw/, as in acqua, and the ending shows the Tuscan change of ⟨-arium⟩ to ⟨-aio⟩.^[5][7] The learned form of the same word is acquario.^[1][8]

Elsewhere the noun gave Old French evier, Old Occitan aiguier and Portuguese agueiro, and was borrowed early into Old High German ahhari.^[9][5] The Latin adjective in the sense “water carrier” continues in Romanian apar.^[10][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record of the noun is in the Florentine Mare amoroso, from the last decade of the 13th century, where it is a basin of water for washing.^[6] The Sienese statutes of 1309–1310 use it for a drain that carries off dirty water.^[6] The adjective, “carrying water”, is first recorded in a commentary on the Sfera written after 1314, where vento acquaio is the rain-bringing south wind.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In farming, solco acquaio (about 1340, the Palladio translation) is a furrow cut across a sown field to carry off rainwater, and Varchi (before 1565) uses acquaio alone for it.^[11][12] The kitchen sink is first recorded in Burchiello, before 1449, in a line about the sea wind ch'entra 'n casa pel buco dell'acquaio (“that comes into the house through the hole of the sink”).^[11][12] Vasari in 1550 uses the word for the basin in a sacristy where the priest washes his hands.^[5] Baldinucci describes the acquai that older Florentine palaces had in their halls, ornamental niches where glasses and water jugs were kept for the table.^[12]

Figurative phrases grew from the sink: someone who eats anything is un acquaio or una gola d'acquaio, andarsene per il buco dell'acquaio is to slip away unnoticed, and mandare tutto per la gola dell'acquaio is to spend everything on dinners.^[13][14][3] In law, servitù di acquaio is the right to discharge dirty water onto a neighbour's land.^[13] The word is Tuscan, and dialect forms such as Corsican ecquaju are found across central Italy and Corsica.^[8][15][5]

Timeline

• 1290s – the Mare amoroso uses acquaio for a washing basin.^[6]
• 1309–1310 – Sienese statutes use acquaio for a drain.^[6]
• After 1314 – the adjective acquaio “carrying water” is recorded.^[6][16]
• About 1340 – solco acquaio appears in the Palladio translation.^[11]
• Before 1449 – Burchiello uses acquaio for the kitchen sink.^[11]
• 1550 – Vasari uses acquaio for the sacristy basin.^[5]
• Before 1565 – Varchi uses acquaio for a drainage furrow.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kitchen sink, with one or two basins and a drain.^{[3][16][8][13]}
2. (figurative, humorous) A glutton: quel ragazzo è un acquaio, finisce ogni avanzo.^[3][16][14]
3. The washbasin in a sacristy.^[3][14]
4. (agriculture) A furrow cut across a sown field to drain off rainwater.^[3][17]

Adjective

1. (agriculture) Carrying water: solco acquaio.^[3][16][13]
2. (archaic) Bringing rain.^[3][12][14]

Related words

• acqua
• acquario
• Latin aquarium

Usage notes

Acquaio is chiefly Tuscan; the usual words for the sink are lavello and lavandino.^[8][14] The adjective is used only in a few set phrases.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 604
6. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 608
11. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli