batacchio

Forms

batacchio m (plural batacchi)^[1] A rarer spelling is battacchio.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *battuāculum (“tool for beating”), a noun of instrument from Latin battuō (“to beat”).^[5][6][7][1] The Vulgar Latin word is not recorded: it is inferred from its Romance outcomes.^[8]

The same word is French batail, Occitan batalh, Catalan batall, Spanish badajo and Portuguese badalo, and in the Engadine battagl.^[6][9][8] battaglio, the other Italian word for a bell's clapper, was borrowed from the Occitan form, so this is the native word and the other its doublet.^[9][1][3] The single ⟨t⟩ has been explained as a northern simplification of ⟨tt⟩.^[10] DEI places the word in the western Romance area and notes that it is missing in southern Italy.^[11] The LEI also lists a variant with the suffix of batocchio.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Franco Sacchetti's Trecentonovelle, from the second half of the 14th century, where Messer Batacchio is a joking name with the sense of a clapper and, figuratively, the penis.^[12][13] DELI's first record is Luigi Pulci (before 1484), who uses it for the pole used to beat down fruit.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Pulci's batacchio is a heavy staff, and the word kept the sense “big stick, pole” besides the farm tool for knocking fruit off the trees.^[4][7] The bell's clapper is recorded from Bronzino in the 16th century.^[5][8] Tommaseo thought the bell sense an extension rather than the proper one.^[13]

In the 20th century it also names the ring or knocker fixed to a door for knocking, recorded in 1952.^[5] The vulgar sense “penis” is in Devoto–Oli in 1990.^[8] The verb sbatacchiare, “to bang about”, is formed from it in the 16th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 1350–1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses Messer Batacchio as a joking name.^[12]
• Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses batacchio for a pole or staff.^[5]
• 1555 – Bronzino uses it for the clapper of a bell.^[8]
• 1872 – Sbatacchiamento is recorded.^[6]
• 1952 – Bruno Barilli uses it for a door knocker.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pole for beating fruit from the trees; by extension, a big stick.^[7][14][15]
2. The clapper of a bell: Il batacchio si è staccato e la campana tace.^[7][3][16]
3. A knocker fixed to a door, often a decorated metal ring or hammer.^[7][3][2]
4. (vulgar) The penis.^[7][14][1]

Word family

• sbatacchiare
• sbatacchiamento
• abbatacchiare
• batacchiare
• batacchiata

Related words

• battaglio
• battere
• Latin battuō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c d e f 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
9. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 457
12. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli