beveraggio

Forms

beveraggio m (plural beveraggi)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian beveragio, Old Italian bevaraggio, Old Italian beveraglio and Old Italian beraggio.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French bevrage (“drink”), the source of modern French breuvage.^{[3][4][5][2][6]} The French word was formed on Latin bibō (“to drink”),^[7][8][9] or, as GRADIT and the DEI put it, on Late Latin biber (“a drink”).^[4][6] Devoto reconstructs Vulgar Latin *biberaticum, crossed in Italian with bevere (“to drink”).^[10] Meyer-Lübke derives the Italian word from Old Occitan beuratge instead; the same Gallo-Romance word gave Spanish brebaje and Portuguese beberagem.^[11]

The Latin verb continues a reduplicated present of Proto-Indo-European *peh₃- (“to drink”); its initial ⟨b-⟩ is an assimilation to the inner ⟨-b-⟩.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Sienese translation of Egidio Romano of 1288, for a potion with healing, magic or poisonous powers, or more generally a drink taken to quench thirst.^[2][7] In 1305–1306 Giordano da Pisa uses it for a drink or a mash.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From Cavalca (before 1342) and a statute of Perugia (1342) the word is a poisoned or bewitched potion; the Tristan romance has a beveraggio con veleno that looked like fine wine.^[3][13] Boccaccio uses it in the plural for the drinks of a feast.^[14]

From the late 15th century it was money given to soldiers, and then a tip in general, money “for a drink” like French pourboire;^[3][9] Firenzuola and the comic writers of the 16th century use it so.^[3][9] In Old Lombard beveragio also named the mouth of a river, ditch or canal, and the sense “tip” is alive in southern dialects.^[6] Today the word is mostly the bran mash given to cattle, or a joking name for a drink.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1288 – First record, in a Sienese translation of Egidio Romano.^[2][7]
• 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for a drink or mash.^[3]
• Before 1342 – Cavalca uses it for a poisoned potion.^[3]
• c. 1400 – Sercambi writes beveragio.^[3]
• c. 1495–1536 – Beveragi are gifts to soldiers in Degli Atti.^[3]
• 1525 – Firenzuola uses it for a tip.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mash of water and bran given to cattle; same as beverone.^[4][5][9]
2. (jocular) A drink, especially an unpleasant one: chi porta i beveraggi alla gita?^[4][5][7]
3. (uncommon) A potion, magic or poisoned; a sleeping draught.^[4][5][9]
4. (dated) A tip.^[4][5][9]

Related words

• bere
• beverone
• French breuvage

Usage notes

The DEI also records a 20th-century beveraggio in wireless telegraphy, a method named after an American engineer.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 503
7. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 955
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 200