acquazzone

Forms

acquazzone m (plural acquazzoni)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian aquazzone and Old Italian aquazone.^[2] Variants are acquazione (14th century), acquazzo (1663) and acquagione (1726).^[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin aquātiō (“fetching of water; rain”) (accusative aquātiōnem).^[4][5][6][1] The noun is formed from Latin aquor + -tiō, the verb meaning “to fetch water”, from aqua (“water”).^[7][1] Devoto connects it with a verb meaning “to give water” and sees the influence of Italian acqua; the LEI too lists the word among the forms built on the variant with ⟨cq⟩.^[8][9][10] The GDLI calls the word semi-learned.^[11]

The Latin word survives in eastern French dialects and, in Italy, in Ligurian aigoassón of La Spezia and Ladin agagiòn of Cadore; Romansh avazun and the Ladin forms mean “flood”.^[10] Acquazione is a learned form of the same word.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the chronicle of Ricordano Malispini, of the late 13th century, with the sense “sudden heavy downpour”; the TLIO's earliest dated texts are Giordano da Pisa's sermons of 1304–1305 and Paolo Gherardi.^[3][10][2] In Giordano the sun straightens the crops flattened per l'acquazzone e per vento “by the downpour and by the wind”.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has hardly changed: in the 14th century Giovanni Villani tells of an acquazzone that set a hill sliding, and Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture warns about vines that cannot stand acquazzoni.^[11] Old Italian could also use it for a lasting heavy rain or a deluge.^[2] Modern dictionaries define a short, violent, local shower that starts and stops suddenly.^[9][6][13] The word is used in dialects from Piedmont to Sicily (acquazzuni).^[10]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Malispini's chronicle has acquazzone.^[3][10]
• 1304–1305 – Giordano da Pisa uses it in his sermons.^[2]
• 14th century – Simone della Tosa writes acquazione.^[3]
• 1663 – Oudin records acquazzo.^[3]
• 1726 – A. M. Salvini uses acquagione.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. downpour, cloudburst: a sudden, heavy and short fall of rain, often local: Siamo tornati a casa fradici per un acquazzone improvviso.^[5][9][6]

Related words

• acqua
• acquata
• Latin aquātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ 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, 632
11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)