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Etymology and origin of the Italian word becco

becco1 beak

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1282 Restoro d'Arezzo
Inherited from
Latin beccus
Ultimate origin
Gaulish *bekkos
Etymology tree of becco1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin beccus
Italian becco
Spanish pico
From the same root · becco1
Italian beccare ← beccus
Spanish picar ← pico

Pronunciation

Forms

becco m (plural becchi)[1]

Etymology

The word for a beak is inherited from Latin beccus (“beak”), a word of Gaulish origin according to Suetonius, who says that the nickname ⟨Becco⟩ of a man born at Toulouse meant a cock's beak.[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary gives the source as Gaulish *bekkos.[1] DELI wonders whether the Gaulish word was itself of Germanic origin, Körting connected it with a Celtic stem meaning “hook”, and Devoto with Latin bucca (“mouth”).[2][6][7]

It replaced rōstrum in most of the Romance area, in Sardinia, Italy and France, but not in Romania, the Iberian Peninsula or southern Italy.[2][8][9] The same word is French bec, Occitan bec, Catalan bec, Portuguese bico, Spanish pico, Sardinian biccu, Friulian bèc and Romansh bec.[3][10][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Restoro d'Arezzo (1282), with the sense “the hard, pointed mouth of birds”.[11] DELI's first date is Dante, before 1321.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used becco for the ram of a ship, for a star of the Swan (becco della gallina), and expressively for a person's mouth;[11] avere il becco troppo giallo meant being too young, and dar di becco “to bite into”.[11] The jocular sense “human mouth” is in Pulci (before 1484).[2] From the 14th century it named the pointed end of many objects,[2] and later the spout of a jug (beccuccio, 1550) and the burner of a gas lamp (1846).[2]

Modern idioms use the mouth sense: chiudere il becco “to shut up”, mettere il becco “to poke one's nose in”, bagnarsi il becco “to have a drink”, and non avere il becco di un quattrino “to be penniless”.[12][13][14]

Timeline

  • 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses becco for a bird's beak.[11]
  • About 1308 – Villani uses it.[9]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it.[2]
  • About 1350 – The Italian translation of Crescenzi uses it for a pointed projection.[2]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio records becchini, the gravediggers of the plague.[2]
  • Before 1484 – Pulci uses it for the human mouth.[2]
  • 1550 – Vasari uses beccuccio for a spout.[2]
  • 1846 – Carena uses becco for a gas burner.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The beak or bill of a bird, the horny covering of its upper and lower jaws.[4][12][13]
  2. The similar horny covering of the jaws of turtles and of the monotremes.[4][12]
  3. (colloquial, jocular) The human mouth: Chiudi il becco![12][13][14]
  4. The pointed end of an object; the spout of a container: il becco della brocca.[4][12][15]
  5. (music) The beak-shaped mouthpiece of some wind instruments: flauto a becco, recorder.[4][12]
  6. A burner for gas: becco Bunsen.[15][1]
  7. (anatomy, botany) A beak-like process of a bone or of an organ such as a fruit.[4][1]

Word family

  • beccare
  • beccuccio
  • becchime
  • beccuto
  • beccaccia
  • beccaccino
  • beccastrino
  • imbeccare
  • imbeccata
  • rimbeccare
  • rimbecco
  • sbeccare
  • becchino

becco2 billy goat

Confidence
Disputed
First attested
1175–1200 Proverbia que dicuntur, Venetian

Pronunciation

Forms

becco m (plural becchi)[1]

Etymology

The word for a billy goat is of uncertain origin.[2][4][15][16] DELI weighs an onomatopoeic base ⟨bek-⟩ against a pre-Roman Alpine word reflected in Latin ibex (“ibex, wild goat”), which Rohlfs proposed.[2] Battisti and Alessio derive it from the ibex word through a form Vulgar Latin *ibiceus and a plural ⟨becci⟩, from which the singular was remade; ⟨beccio⟩, which reaches south to the Abruzzi, would continue the same form.[8][17] Meyer-Lübke saw an imitation of the bleating of goats,[10] and the LEI groups the word with animal calls ⟨*bekk-⟩, ⟨*bikk-⟩, rejecting the ibex explanation because it conflicts with the earliest records.[18]

Nocentini takes it instead from Lombardic *bikk, akin to German Bock (“billy goat”), citing Rhenish ⟨bick⟩ and Bavarian ⟨beckelein⟩.[3] The LEI objects that a Lombardic ⟨*bikko⟩ would not explain French ⟨bique⟩ “goat”.[18] Wiktionary considers Proto-Germanic *bukkaz (“male goat”) or a Celtic word, with the vowel ⟨-e-⟩ from the Middle High German plural.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur, of the last quarter of the 12th century, which speaks of husbands as goats c'à lo corno florito “with the flowering horn”.[11][2] Medieval Latin bechus is recorded in the Veneto in 1255, and Dante uses Italian becco in the Convivio (1304–1308).[2]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “cuckold”, from the goat's horns, is recorded from 1470 and in Pulci (1484), and Berni has becco cornuto (1531).[19][2][8] Alinei revived an old explanation: the billy goat stays indifferent when other males mate with its female.[2] Phrases grew around it: becco contento, a husband who does not mind, and becco e bastonato, one who suffers the harm and the mockery.[2][16]

Villani tells that a district of the city bore a goat on its banner because the butchers lived there.[20] Beccaio “butcher” is derived from the word, and beccheria “butcher's shop” from beccaio.[3] English borrowed becco “cuckold” in 1604.[19]

Timeline

  • Last quarter of the 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur use the word.[11]
  • 1255 – Medieval Latin bechus is recorded in the Veneto.[2]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses becco for the billy goat.[2]
  • 1470 – Becco is recorded in the sense “cuckold”.[19]
  • 1531 – Berni uses becco cornuto.[8]
  • 1604 – English becco “cuckold” is recorded.[19]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A billy goat, the male of the goat.[4][12][16]
  2. (figurative, vulgar) A cuckold, a man betrayed by his wife: becco e bastonato, one who suffers both harm and mockery.[4][12][16]

Word family

  • beccaio
  • beccheria
  • stambecco
  • Latin beccus
  • French bec

Usage notes

Battaglia lists the sense “cuckold” as a third becco.[21] Battisti and Alessio also record becco “prow of a ship” (16th century, Pigafetta), from the beak.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 t u v 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
  6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 473
  9. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5, 667
  10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  16. ^ 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)
  17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  18. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5, 887
  19. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  20. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  21. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Becco.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/becco. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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