bacino

Forms

bacino m (plural bacini)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *baccīnum (“wooden vessel”), which Gregory of Tours records as Late Latin bacchinon, writing of “two wooden dishes, which people commonly call bacchinon”.^[2][3][1] DELI places this record in the 7th century, Nocentini in the 6th.^[2][3] Glosses have baccinum too.^[4]

Nocentini and the LEI derive it from a pre-Romance *bacca (“vessel”), which is also behind the gloss Latin bacar (“jar”) in Paulus's epitome of Festus and behind French bâche “tank” and baquet “tub”.^[3][4] Because the words cluster in Gallo-Romance and Gregory wrote in Gaul, a Celtic origin is often proposed, and Wiktionary gives Gaulish *bakkinon (“cup, wooden bowl”), but Nocentini finds no firm support for it.^[3][2][1] Meyer-Lübke thought the word perhaps African, and Latte's attempt to derive it from Greek was firmly rejected by Wartburg.^[5][2]

The same word is French bassin, Occitan bací, Catalan bací and Spanish bacín, the Spanish word taken from Catalan; it was borrowed early into German Becken and Basque baki(na) (“wooden pig trough”).^[6][3][5] Battisti and Alessio take the single ⟨c⟩ of the Italian word and of bacile as a sign that Italian took it from Occitan bací.^[6]

Several modern senses come from French bassin: the ornamental pool, introduced by Maffei in 1737, and the anatomical, nautical and geographical senses.^[2][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Corsican document of 1242;^[8][2] DELI's is Ugieri Apugliese, in the first half of the 13th century.^[8][2] The sense was a round metal vessel, lower than it is high, with a turned-out rim, used mostly for liquids.^[8] A Florentine text of 1271 lists bacini grandi francesschi “large French basins”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the basin as a measure for grain, as a percussion instrument, and as a container for votes.^[8] Giovanni Villani tells how in a time of fear every house beat bacini o paiuoli “basins or cauldrons” while the church bells rang.^[9][10] A red-hot metal basin was used to blind condemned men, which gave the verb abbacinare.^[3][11] The diminutive bacinetto named a light helmet in the 14th century; this sense came from Old French bacinet.^[2][4]

From the 18th century Italian took over the senses of French bassin: the pool or reservoir (1737), the pelvis, noted by D'Alberti in 1797 as used “instead of pelvi, which is the technical word among the Tuscan anatomists”, a sheltered stretch of water (1828), a depression where water collects (1829) and a basin of sediments (1838).^[2][4] D'Annunzio extended the word to the pans of a balance.^[6] The 20th century added the bacino di carenaggio “dry dock” (1937) and the bacino d'utenza, the audience or users a service draws on.^[2][9][12]

Timeline

• 6th century – Gregory of Tours records Late Latin bacchinon.^[3]
• 1242 – Bacino appears in a Corsican document.^[8]
• First half of the 13th century – Ugieri Apugliese uses the word.^[2]
• 1271 – A Florentine text lists bacini grandi francesschi.^[4][13]
• 14th century – Bacinetto “helmet” appears in the Tavola Ritonda.^[2]
• 1737 – Maffei uses bacino for an ornamental pool, after French bassin.^[2]
• 1797 – D'Alberti records the sense “pelvis”.^[2]
• 1828 – The sense “sheltered stretch of water” is recorded.^[2]
• 1829 – The sense “depression where water collects” is recorded.^[2]
• 1838 – The geological sense appears in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1937 – Bacino di carenaggio “dry dock” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A low, wide, round basin or bowl for water or other liquids: Riempì il bacino di acqua tiepida per lavarsi i piedi.^[13][11][14]
2. (geography) A natural or artificial depression filled with water, such as a lake or a sea basin; also an artificial reservoir.^[13][11]
3. (geography) The area drained by a river and its tributaries, a catchment or drainage basin.^[15][11][1]
4. An area rich in a mineral resource, such as a coalfield.^[13][15][1]
5. (geology) A depressed area of land or sea floor in which sediments collect.^[13][15]
6. (nautical) A stretch of water in a port sheltered by moles or quays;^[13][11][16] bacino di carenaggio, a dry dock.^[13][11][16]
7. The basin of a fountain in which the water collects.^[13][16]
8. (anatomy) The pelvis, formed by the hip bones, the sacrum and the coccyx: Dopo la caduta le hanno trovato una frattura al bacino.^[13][15][16]
9. (figurative) The area or public a phenomenon or service draws on: bacino di utenza, the catchment area of a school or a public service.^[12][9]

Word family

• bacinella
• bacinetto
• abbacinare

Related words

• bacile
• French bassin

Usage notes

Bacino is also the diminutive of bacio, “a little kiss”, recorded before 1587 in G. M. Cecchi and in Tommaseo's dictionary; the northern dialects have it widely, as Piedmontese and Venetian basin.^[17][10] In anatomy the technical synonym is pelvi.^[15][2]

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 m n o p q r s 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 f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 4, 181
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 398
7. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
8. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ 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
14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 4, 1735