Etymologically
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attacco

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 20:22. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /atˈtak.ko/[1]

Forms

attacco m (plural attacchi)[1] An Old Italian spelling is atacco.[2]

Etymology

It is a noun formed from the verb attaccare “to attach; to attack”.[3][4][5][2][6] The origin of the verb, recorded before 1294 in Guittone d'Arezzo, is disputed.[3][2] DEI, the TLIO and Wiktionary explain it as staccare “to detach” with its prefix changed.[6][2][1] DELI objects that this verb is recorded much later, and derives the verb from Old Italian taccare (“to mark cloth with a tally”) with a strengthening prefix a-, though it does not rule out French attacher.[3] Nocentini takes it from Old French atachier, from estachier (“to fix to a stake”), from Frankish *stakka (“stake”); the hard ⟨c⟩ would point to north-eastern French, where /k/ did not become a palatal before /a/.[4]

In the military sense the Italian verb gave French attaquer in the 16th century.[6][4] DEI holds that the noun in the sense “fit of an illness” is a French usage, after phrases such as French attaque de fièvre.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is an anonymous Pisan poem of the late 13th century, where the word figuratively means an assault.[2] DELI's first date is Francesco Berni, before 1535, in the sense “joining, junction”.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The TLIO also records a figurative sense “handhold, pretext” in Old Italian, still found in literary use.[2][7] In the 16th and 17th centuries attacco meant mainly the point where things join, and figuratively the connection between the parts of a speech or a work of art.[8][9][6] The military sense “offensive action against the enemy” is recorded from Corsini (1699), and the medical sense “sudden fit” from Salvini, before 1729.[3]

In music attacco is the start of a piece or the entry of an instrument, recorded in 1706, and in the 19th century the word came to mean a team of horses harnessed to a carriage (1892).[3][6] The 20th century added electrical and telephone connections (1941), the bindings of skis, sports attacks, the forward line of a team, and a fierce criticism.[3][5][7]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – An anonymous Pisan poem uses attacco for an assault.[2]
  • Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses it for a joining.[3]
  • 1699 – Corsini uses it for an offensive against the enemy.[3]
  • 1706 – Zaccaria Tevo uses it for the start of a musical passage.[3]
  • Before 1729 – Salvini uses it for the onset of an illness.[3]
  • 1892 – It is recorded for a team of draught animals.[3]
  • 1941 – It is recorded for an electrical connection.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An attack, an assault, an offensive: L'esercito ha respinto l'attacco all'alba.[7][10][11][1]
  2. (figurative) A harsh criticism: Il ministro ha risposto agli attacchi della stampa.[7][10][11]
  3. (sports) An attacking move; in football, the forward line of a team.[7][10][1]
  4. (medicine) A fit, a sudden bout of illness: un attacco di tosse.[12][7][1]
  5. The point or way in which one thing joins another: l'attacco del colletto.[5][13][7]
  6. A fixing device; in skiing, a binding.[5][13][7]
  7. A connector for electrical or telephone equipment.[5][7][10]
  8. The beginning, opening of a story or speech: Il romanzo ha un attacco memorabile.[5][13][11]
  9. (music) The first notes of a piece; the entry of an instrument or singer, or the conductor's signal for it.[5][13][11]
  10. A team of horses harnessed to a carriage: un attacco a due.[5][12][7]
  11. (mountaineering) The starting point of a climb.[5][7][11]
  12. (figurative, literary) A handhold, a pretext.[5][7][11]

Word family

  • contrattacco

Usage notes

Common phrases are attacco di cuore (heart attack), attacco di panico (panic attack) and andare all'attacco (to go on the attack).[5][7][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 352
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 806
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier