arpione

Forms

arpione m (plural arpioni)^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *harpigōnem, a popular form beside Latin harpagō (“grappling hook”).^[4][5][2][1] Devoto, whom DELI quotes, explains the ⟨i⟩ as the normal weakening of the vowel in urban speech, while the learned form kept the vowel of its Greek source, Ancient Greek ἁρπάγη (harpágē, “hook”).^[4][6] The complete loss of the intervocalic ⟨g⟩ shows that the word came into Italian through northern speech.^[4][5][2][7] The Greek noun is from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “to snatch, seize”), of uncertain origin.^[1]

Wiktionary and Treccani give the Latin origin as probable only, and Gabrielli as possible.^[1][8][9] Meyer-Lübke, following García de Diego, lists the word, in the sense “door hinge”, as a derivative of harpa (“harp”) instead, and Körting groups it with a Greek word for “sickle” or “hook”.^[10][11] arpagone and arpone are its doublets.^[1] The second comes from French harpon.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a document from Prato of 1275.^[12][13] Old Italian used the word for a hooked iron put to various uses.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the Eneide volgarizzata uses it for the iron hook fixed in a wall, on which the rings of a door's or window's hinges turn, and Boccaccio, in 1348–1353, for a large nail driven into a wall to hang things on.^[4] Tommaseo, still in the 19th century, gives the hinge pin as the main sense.^[14]

Technical senses followed: a ratchet mechanism is called arpionismo from 1892.^[4] Arpione also names the pawl of such a mechanism, the hook-headed spike that fixes a rail to its sleeper, and an S-shaped blade once used in boarding to cut an enemy ship's rigging.^[2][15][8] In mountaineering it is a sharp ice piton.^[2][7][13]

The harpoon sense belongs properly to arpone but is very common.^[8] The 2009 supplement of the GDLI records arpione for the harpoon and for the barbed tip of a speargun, with examples from La Capria and E. Ferrero.^[16] The verb arpionare, “to harpoon”, is recorded from 1952.^[5]

Timeline

• 1275 – A Prato document has the first record.^[12][13]
• 14th century – The Eneide volgarizzata uses it for the iron pin of a hinge.^[4]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for a large wall hook.^[4][2]
• 1892 – Arpionismo “ratchet” is recorded.^[4]
• 1952 – The verb arpionare is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hooked iron: hook, especially one fixed in a wall to hang things on.^{[2][3][7][13]}
2. harpoon, and the barbed steel tip of a speargun.^[2][3][7]
3. (building) The iron pintle fixed in a wall, on which the rings of a door's or window's hinges turn.^{[2][3][7][15]}
4. (railways) A hook-headed spike that fixes a rail to the sleeper.^[2][7][15]
5. (mechanics) pawl: a part that stops the motion of another, as in a ratchet.^{[2][3][13][1]}
6. (mountaineering) A sharp-pointed ice piton with a ring at one end.^[2][7][13]

Word family

• arpionismo
• arpionare
• arpioniere
• arpioncino

Related words

• arpagone
• arpone
• Latin harpago

Usage notes

Treccani's Vocabolario calls arpione for arpone “harpoon” improper though very frequent.^[8] Treccani's dictionary of 2011 lists arpone as an uncommon variant of arpione.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ 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)
9. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca