aguzzare

Forms

aguzzare (first-person singular present agùzzo, first-person singular past historic aguzzài, past participle aguzzàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The old and popular Tuscan form is auzzare.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *acutiāre, formed on Latin acūtus (“sharp”).^[5][6][7][1] The Late Latin agent noun acutiator (“sharpener”), in a 9th-century gloss, shows that the verb existed.^[8][4]

The Vulgar Latin verb was a variant of acūtāre, and it replaced classical acuere in every Romance language except Romanian.^[5][8][4] In Italy it also replaced the old verb Old Italian agutare, from the Latin variant.^[8] The cognates are Old French aguisier (about 1100) and French aiguiser, Occitan aguzar, Catalan aguar, Spanish aguzar, Portuguese aguçar, Romansh güzzer and Friulian uzâ.^[6][8][9]

The Latin adjective is the participle of the classical verb, which Nocentini derives from acus (“needle”).^[6][10] Aguzzo is a shortened past participle.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bono Giamboni (before 1292) uses the verb figuratively, for stirring up desire, anger or pride.^[5][8] The TLIO's first record is in Brunetto Latini's translation of Cicero's Pro Ligario (before 1294).^[11]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense, to make a point sharp, is dated by DELI to Boccaccio (1341–1342), and the reflexive sense “to become sharper” to Alberto della Piagentina (before 1332).^[5] Boccaccio also has aguzzare the mind or wit (about 1353).^[12] Old Italian set phrases already joined the verb to the wit, the sight and the appetite.^[11]

In northern Italy the verb became the centre of a family of words with an erotic sense, and in Venetian and other northern dialects forms such as uzzàr mean “to set a dog on”.^[12][9] The southern and Sicilian forms spread from the standard language, replacing local words for sharpening.^[12]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the verb figuratively.^[5][8]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it in his Pro Ligario.^[11]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses aguzzo “pointed”.^[5]
• Before 1332 – Reflexive aguzzarsi is recorded.^[5]
• 1341–1342 – Boccaccio uses it for sharpening a point.^[5]
• About 1350 – Aguzzamento appears in the translation of Crescenzi.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sharpen to a point: aguzzare la punta di una canna.^[7][13][14]
2. To whet, put an edge on.^[7][15]
3. (figurative) To make keener, sharpen a sense: aguzzare la vista, aguzzare le orecchie, trying to see or hear better.^[7][14][2]
4. (figurative) To stimulate: aguzzare l'appetito;^[7][14][16] aguzzare l'ingegno, to sharpen one's wits.^[7][14][16]
5. (reflexive, aguzzarsi) To become pointed or keener.^[17][14][2]

Word family

• aguzzo
• aguzzamento
• aguzzatore
• aguzzatura
• riaguzzare

Related words

• acuto
• acuire
• ago
• Latin acūtus

Usage notes

A common proverb is il bisogno aguzza l'ingegno, “necessity sharpens the wits”.^[15] The past participle aguzzato is a term of heraldry for pieces with pointed ends.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
3. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 576
13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse