Etymologically
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baciare

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Pronunciation

  • /baˈt͡ʃa.re/[1]

Forms

baciare (first-person singular present bàcio, first-person singular past historic baciài, past participle baciàto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old forms are Old Italian basciare, Old Italian basare and Old Italian bagiare; there is also Sicilian vasari.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bāsiāre (“to kiss”), derived from bāsium (“kiss”).[2][5][6][7][8] Catullus brought the verb into Latin literature for an amorous kiss, and Martial uses it for a kiss of respect; it competed with ōsculor and sāvior, and in the spoken language it replaced them, so that neither has Romance descendants.[9][3][4] The verb lives on in Dalmatian bissuor, Friulian basâ, French baiser (from the 10th century), Old Occitan baisar, Catalan besar, Spanish besar, Portuguese beijar and Sardinian basare.[9][10]

De Vaan thinks the noun a loanword, since it appears late.[11] Catullus came from Verona, so it might be Celtic.[11] Many languages have a word for “kiss” in ⟨bu-⟩ with a sibilant (such as Middle Irish bus (“lip”), Lithuanian bučiúoti (“to kiss”), German Buss, English buss and Swedish puss), which suggests that it was imitative in origin.[11]

The Latin ⟨-si-⟩ became /ʃ/, written ⟨sc⟩ in Old Italian basciare, the old Tuscan form (as in camiscia and cascio); the modern spelling ⟨c⟩ follows the Tuscan pronunciation of a soft ⟨c⟩ between vowels.[4][12] The forms Old Italian basare and Sicilian vasari are dialectal.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is basciare in the Tuscan Ritmo laurenziano of the late 12th century.[2][8] Basare is in Giacomino Pugliese in the 13th century, and baciare in Dante (1300–1313).[2] The TLIO lists the old uses: a kiss of love, of family affection, of respect (often on the feet), the kiss that sealed a peace, and the false kiss of Judas.[8]

Semantic evolution

The infinitive was also used as a noun, il baciare “kissing”, from Giacomo da Lentini (about 1230–1250); Boccaccio writes of “gli amorosi baciari e i piacevoli abbracciari”, “loving kisses and pleasant embraces”.[8][6][13] The LEI traces this noun back to spoken Latin, where it replaced bāsium in Gallo-Romance and Aromanian.[9]

The reciprocal baciarsi is recorded in 1887.[2] A technical sense “to touch, to fit closely” is known in Gallo-Romance from the 16th century and in Old Catalan; in Italian it gives the nautical a baciare “touching” (1797) and Pisan baci for the spots where loaves touched in the oven.[9][2] Baciamano (before 1554) imitates a Spanish custom and word, besamanos;[2][9] baciapile, a bigot who kisses the holy-water stoups, belongs to the age of the Counter-Reformation (before 1675).[2][9] A lucky person is baciato dalla fortuna.[6][7]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano has basciare.[2][8]
  • About 1230–1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses baciare as a noun.[8]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante has the form baciare.[2]
  • Before 1554 – Baciamano is recorded.[2]
  • Before 1675 – Baciapile “bigot” is recorded.[2]
  • 1797 – The nautical phrase a baciare is recorded.[2]
  • 1887 – Reciprocal baciarsi is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To kiss someone, out of love or affection, or something, out of respect or devotion: La nonna baciò i nipoti uno per uno. Baciare la mano: to kiss someone's hand.[6][7][14]
  2. (figurative) To touch lightly, to caress (of light, air or water): una spiaggia baciata dal sole.[6][7][14]
  3. (reciprocal, baciarsi) To kiss each other: Si baciarono sotto la pioggia.[7][14][13]
  4. A baciare: touching closely, flush (of two parts, in joinery).[7][14]

Word family

  • baciamano
  • baciapile
  • baciucchiare
  • sbaciucchiare
  • ribaciare
  • baciatore
  • combaciare

Usage notes

Baciare as a noun (i baciari) is archaic and literary.[6][7][13] Bacio le mani survives as a deferential greeting in Sicily.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 397
  4. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 929
  5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ 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. 4, 1653
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse