Etymologically
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bersaglio

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Pronunciation

  • /berˈsaʎ.ʎo/[1]

Forms

bersaglio m (plural bersagli)[1] The older form Old Italian berzaglio is used by Dante and survives in literary use until Galileo.[2][3] Other early forms are Old Italian bersagi (Venetian, plural), Old Italian brexallo (Faenza) and Old Italian berssaglo (Genoa).[4][3] In the 16th century versaglio and brisaglio are also found.[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French bersail (“target for arrows”), a noun formed from the Old French verb berser (“to hunt; to shoot with a bow”).[2][5][6][3] The verb is of Germanic origin: DELI, Nocentini and the LEI derive it from Frankish *birsōn (“to go hunting”).[2][5][3] Prati called the French word of unknown origin,[7] and Wiktionary traces the verb instead to Latin vervex (“wether”).[1]

The LEI notes that the Old French verb is recorded about half a century before the noun (about 1130 and about 1190), while in Italian the noun comes first and the verb only later.[3] A verb Middle High German birsen (“to hunt”) is found from 1194 and a verb Medieval Latin birsari (“to hunt”) in documents from Germany from 1030;[3] Kluge and Seebold derive modern German pirschen (“to stalk”) from the Old French verb.[3] In Italy the noun is recorded in Medieval Latin as bresagium (13th century, Bergamo) and bressaglus “for shooting with the crossbow” (1363, Udine).[8]

The same French verb gave the Italian family of imberciare “to hit the target” and berciare.[3][8] Sabatini–Coletti explains the /ts/ of the older form as a transitional sound that developed in the cluster.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the poems of Tomaso da Faenza, in the late 13th century, where the word means the mark aimed at with a bow or crossbow.[4] DELI dates its first record of berzaglio to Dante, who died in 1321, and of the modern spelling bersaglio to Sannazaro, before 1530.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word also named the place where shooting with the crossbow was practised, and, by extension, a fight or clash;[4] mettersi a bersaglio meant to put one's life at risk.[4] The sense “fight, skirmish” is now archaic.[10][6] Pulci uses it in a figurative sense, a person or thing that is the butt of mockery or misfortune, before 1484.[2]

The verb bersagliare, “to take aim at; to strike repeatedly”, is recorded from 1598 (as berzagliare) and 1609, and figuratively “to persecute” from 1689.[2] bersagliere first meant a skilled marksman and was recorded in 1829;[5] it became the name of a corps of light infantry formed in the Sardinian army in 1836.[7]

Modern technical senses include the parts of the body that may be hit in boxing and fencing, the opponent's goal in football, and in physics the atom or nucleus struck by particles from an accelerator.[6][10][11]

Timeline

  • About 1190 – Old French bersail “target” is first recorded.[3]
  • Late 13th century – Tomaso da Faenza uses the word (as brexallo).[4]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses berzaglio.[2]
  • Before 1484 – Pulci uses the figurative sense, a person who is the butt of something.[2]
  • Before 1530 – Sannazaro uses the spelling bersaglio.[2]
  • 1598 – The verb berzagliare is recorded, by Florio.[2]
  • 1829 – Bersagliere “marksman” is recorded.[5]
  • 1836 – A corps of bersaglieri is formed in the Sardinian army.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A target: the object or mark aimed at with a weapon, especially in military exercises or shooting competitions: Ha colpito il bersaglio al primo tiro.[6][10][11]
  2. (figurative) An aim or goal, colpire il bersaglio, to achieve one's purpose.[6][10][11]
  3. (figurative) A person or thing that is the object of criticism, jokes or misfortune: È diventato il bersaglio dei giornali.[6][10][12]
  4. (sports) In boxing and fencing, the part of the body that may be struck; in football, the opponent's goal.[6][10]
  5. (physics) The atom, nucleus or surface struck by a beam of particles or electrons.[6][11]
  6. (archaic) A fight or skirmish.[10][6]

Word family

  • bersagliare
  • bersagliere
  • imberciare
  • Old French bersail
  • German pirschen

Usage notes

Tiro al bersaglio is target shooting, and also the place where it is practised.[13][6] Bersaglio grosso in boxing is the boxer's trunk.[11][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 h i j Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5, 833
  4. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 135
  8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 497
  9. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli