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attaccare

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word attaccare

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1294, Guittone d'Arezzo
Ultimate origin
Italian a-,taccare
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian attaccare
French attaquer
English attack
From the same root
French attaque ← attaquer

Pronunciation

  • /at.takˈka.re/[1]

Forms

attaccare (first-person singular present attàcco, first-person singular past historic attaccài, past participle attaccàto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[2][3] DELI, with GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti, derives it from Italian a- + taccare (“to mark (cloth)”), an old verb for putting the tacca, the merchant's mark, on cloth, recorded in the statutes of the Calimala guild (1332–1337).[2][4][5] The older and still common explanation, followed by DEI, the TLIO, GDLI, Treccani and Wiktionary, takes it from staccare (“to detach”) with the prefix ⟨s-⟩ replaced by ⟨a-⟩;[6][7][8][9][1] DELI rejects it because that verb is recorded much later.[2]

Nocentini and Devoto–Oli derive the verb instead from Old French attachier, formed with a change of prefix from estachier (“to fasten to a stake”), from estache (“stake”), from Frankish *stakka (“stake, post”);[3][10] DELI admits this as a possibility.[2] French would lead one to expect a palatal sound in Italian, but Nocentini follows Stromboli in taking the loan from north-eastern France, where /k/ was not palatalised before /a/, and sees distaccare and the verb with ⟨s-⟩ as later formations from it.[3] Meyer-Lübke too set the verb in the family of the Germanic word for “stake”, with Spanish estaca and Old Occitan estacar (“to tie up”).[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Rime of Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294;[7][2][4] DELI gives the sense “to join closely, with glue or stitches”.[2] The reflexive ataccarsi “to be catching”, of a disease, is in a letter of Catherine of Siena of 1378.[2]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio uses attaccare for tying something to a belt, and Ariosto for strapping saddlebags on a horse.[8][12] The senses “to confront with hostility” (before 1311), “to begin” a song or a speech (before 1533) and “to attack” in war (before 1558, DELI has assalire in Ariosto, 1532) followed.[13][2] In the military sense the verb was borrowed as French attaquer (1540), and, from French into English attack and German attackieren.[13][3][6] Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan and Romanian atacar, ataca are borrowings too.[1]

Francesco Redi uses it for passing on a disease (before 1698).[2] Attaccamento “affection” (1677, Magalotti) is a calque of French attachement, and attaccare un bottone was soldiers' slang for starting a long, boring talk in Panzini's dictionary of 1918, whence attaccabottoni (1923).[2] Modern Italian also uses the verb for hanging up the telephone, plugging in an appliance and going on the attack in football.[4][10][14]

Timeline

  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses attaccare.[7][2]
  • 1378 – Catherine of Siena uses ataccarsi of a catching disease.[2]
  • 1532 – Ariosto uses it for “to assail, give battle”.[2]
  • 1540 – French attaquer is recorded, borrowed from Italian.[13]
  • 1677 – Attaccamento “affection” appears in Magalotti, after French attachement.[2]
  • 1846 – Attaccapanni “coat stand” is recorded.[2][3]
  • 1923 – Attaccabottoni “bore” is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To attach, to stick or fasten (with glue, stitches, knots): Ho attaccato una toppa sui jeans.[4][10][5][1]
  2. To hang (up), to post: Attacca il calendario vicino alla porta. Attaccare il telefono: to hang up.[4][10][9]
  3. To harness (an animal to a cart or plough): Il contadino attaccò l'asino al carretto.[4][14][15]
  4. To connect to the mains, to plug in: Hai attaccato il caricabatterie?[4][9]
  5. To pass on (a disease, a habit, a passion): Mio fratello mi ha attaccato il raffreddore.[4][10][14]
  6. To attack, to assail, (figurative) to criticise sharply, (sport) to go on the attack: Le truppe attaccarono all'alba.[4][5][14][1]
  7. To corrode, to damage: L'umidità ha attaccato le travi del tetto.[5][14][15]
  8. To begin (a speech, a piece of music; with a and an infinitive): Appena arrivato, attaccò a lamentarsi.[5][14][9]
  9. (intransitive) To stick, to adhere; of a plant, to take root.[14][9][15]

Word family

  • attacco
  • attaccamento
  • attaccante
  • attaccabrighe
  • attaccabottoni
  • attaccapanni
  • attaccaticcio
  • attaccatura
  • attacchino
  • contrattacco
  • contrattaccare
  • riattaccare
  • attaccabile
  • inattaccabile

Usage notes

Attaccare bottone (a qualcuno) means to buttonhole someone with long, tiresome talk, attaccare discorso to start a conversation, and attaccare (le scarpe, i guantoni) al chiodo to retire from a sport.[10][14][9] The reflexive attaccarsi means “to cling, to grow attached”.[1][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 352
  7. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  15. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Attaccare.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/attaccare. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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