ape

Forms

ape f (plural api)^[1] Old and dialect forms include Old Italian apa, Old Italian apo, Old Italian ava and, with the article fused, Old Italian lapi.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin apis (“bee”), continued in its accusative form.^[4][5][6][1] The Latin word survives as a popular word in Dalmatian juop, Friulian af, Sardinian abe and Old French ef, and in all the Italian dialects;^[3][7][8] Ibero-Romance and Romanian have no trace of it.^[3][7][8] In French it gave way to French abeille, taken from Occitan, a descendant of the diminutive apicula, which also spread to the Iberian peninsula and gave Tuscan pecchia.^[8][9] French still used the old word in the 16th century, in Marot.^[7]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[10][11][4] Wiktionary reports the traditional comparison with Ancient Greek ἐμπίς (empís, “gnat”) and German Imme (“bee”), but notes that the word looks like a European substrate word, and that a link with the root of fūcus (“drone”) is impossible on phonetic grounds.^[1] De Vaan finds conceivable Vennemann's proposal of a Semitic loan, compared with Egyptian ꜥfj (“bee”).^[10][1] DEI suggests a Mediterranean relic, comparing Basque abia (“horsefly”) and a Ligurian form behind Lombard àvia.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur, of the last quarter of the 12th century, for the insect that makes honey and wax.^[2] The LEI's Tuscan record begins in the middle of the 13th century, and DELI cites Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^[3][4] Tommaseo quotes the Italian Tesoro: Api son quelle che fanno il mele e la cera (“bees are those that make honey and wax”).^[9]

Semantic evolution

The LEI groups the Italo-Romance forms into ape, apa and apo; forms with the article fused, such as lapa, typical of central and southern Italy; the plural avi used as a singular in Piedmont, western Lombardy and Emilia, because bees were thought of as a swarm; and back-formations such as avia.^[3] Meyer-Lübke adds a Volscian vape with the v of vespa.^[7] Old Italian sometimes made the word masculine in the plural, gli api.^[9]

The medieval etymology quoted by the GDLI from Cassiodorus explains apes as “without feet”, because bees were believed to be born without them.^[12] In Tuscany pecchia was the commoner word in Tommaseo's time.^[9] Figuratively, ape regina is a possessive and sexually voracious woman.^[13] The derivatives apicoltura (1847) and apicoltore (1868) are modern.^[5]

Timeline

• 1175–1200 – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur uses ape.^[2]
• About 1261 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^[14]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ape.^[4]
• 1377 – The plural ape appears in the statutes of Ascoli.^[3]
• 14th century – The Lombard plural àvie is recorded.^[8]
• 1847 – Apicoltura is first recorded.^[5]
• 1868 – Apicoltore is first recorded.^[5]
• 1948 – The Piaggio three-wheeler Ape is named after the bee.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. bee, especially the honeybee, the social insect that makes honey and wax: Un’ape si è posata sul vasetto di marmellata.^{[6][15][14][1]}
2. (zoology) Any insect of the genus Apis; with a capital, the genus itself.^[6][16]

Word family

• apicoltura
• apicoltore
• apicultura
• apicultore
• apiario
• apiatura
• apiterapia
• apide

Related words

• apiaio
• pecchia
• Latin apis
• French abeille

Usage notes

Pecchia is a synonym.^[14][1] Phrases include ape regina (queen bee), ape operaia (worker bee) and nido d'ape (honeycomb).^[6][14] Ape, a registered trade name, is also a small three-wheeled Piaggio delivery vehicle, made from 1948 and named on the model of the Vespa scooter.^[5][15][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ 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, 36
4. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 238
9. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)