bambagia

Forms

bambagia f (plural bambagie)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin bambacium, through the neuter plural bambacia taken as a feminine.^[2][3][4][1] The Medieval Latin word comes from Ancient Greek βαμβάκιον (bambákion, “cotton”), recorded in the Byzantine dictionary of the Suda (974), from Middle Persian pambag (“cotton”).^[5][3][2][6] Late Latin glosses have bambax, also found in the Codex Cavensis of 968.^[6] Wiktionary instead traces the Greek word to βάμβαξ (bámbax, “cotton”) or βόμβυξ (bómbux, “silkworm”), whose origin it calls unknown, and the DEI leaves open whether the two are related.^[1][6]

The LEI proposes another source: the Latin name ⟨Bambyce⟩ of a city of Syria on the trade route from Antioch to Mesopotamia, where oriental paper was probably first made, with the word later drawn towards the continuations of the Byzantine Greek word for cotton.^[5][7] The DEI already explains the old sense “handmade paper” from that city.^[6]

The form is northern Italian, with the softening of ⟨-ci-⟩; the south has bambace and Neapolitan vammace, and Sardinia has Sardinian bambaghe.^[6][8] The word is also Old French bambais.^[6] The Russian word бумага (bumaga, “paper”) may come from the same Italian word.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the accounts (Ricordi) of Mattasalà at Siena, 1233–43;^[7][5][9] DELI dates the noun from a Florentine text of 1276, and Marco Polo's Italian version (14th century) says: Hanno àlbori che fanno della bambagia (“they have trees that produce cotton”).^[7][5][9] The sense was the down that covers cotton seed, and raw, unspun cotton.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word named cotton in flocks and the waste of cotton working, and also cotton used to make a kind of paper.^[7] The forms varied widely: bambace, banbagia, banbasia, bammace, vammace and many more, in both genders.^[7][5] Boccaccio has a mattress di bambagia, and old medical texts use it to plug the ears or bathe the eyes.^[9][10]

As a symbol of softness it gave the phrase tenere or allevare nella bambagia, “to keep or raise in cotton wool”, to coddle.^[11][12] In botany bambagia selvatica is the name of several woolly plants of the daisy family, such as cat's-foot (Antennaria dioica).^[11][4][6]

Timeline

• 968 – Late Latin bambax appears in the Codex Cavensis.^[6]
• 1233–1243 – The Ricordi of Mattasalà at Siena have bambascino and the first record of the noun in the TLIO.^[5][7]
• 1276 – A Florentine text has bambagia, DELI's first date.^[5]
• 14th century – The Italian Marco Polo describes cotton trees.^[5][9]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses bambagino “of cotton”.^[5]
• 1548–1549 – Bombasina, a cotton cloth, is recorded in Lombardy.^[5]
• 1598 – Florio records bambagina.^[5]
• 1871 – Sbambagiare is first recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. cotton wool; cotton in flocks, the waste of cotton spinning: Avvolse i bicchieri nella bambagia prima di spedirli.^[2][4][13]
2. (figurative) Something soft and light;^[4][11][12] nella bambagia: with every comfort and care, in cotton wool.^[4][11][12]
3. (botany) bambagia selvatica: popular name of several plants of the daisy family with woolly white hairs, such as cat's-foot.^[4][11][12]

Word family

• bambagina
• bambagino
• bambagioso
• sbambagiare
• imbambagiare

Related words

• bambace
• bombace
• Ancient Greek βάμβαξ (bámbax)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 421
7. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ 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. 2, 27
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana