biscia

Forms

biscia f (plural bisce)^[1] Old northern forms include Old Italian bissa, Old Italian bisa and Old Italian bixa.^[2] The dialects of the north have Lombard bissa, Venetian bissa and Piedmontese bissa.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin bīstia, a variant of Latin bēstia (“beast, animal”) recorded by Gregory of Tours and Fredegar.^[5][4][6][7] Its ⟨ī⟩ is explained by the following ⟨-sti-⟩: the LEI and Devoto compare Latin ōstium, which became uscio;^[4][8][9] Nocentini speaks of palatalisation; and Gamillscheg and Alessio thought of an Oscan pronunciation.^[4][8][9] The cluster then gave ⟨-sci-⟩, as it did in poscia.^[8]

The narrowing from “animal” to “snake” is explained by Nocentini as a taboo: the feared snake was called by a general word.^[9] The LEI finds the sense already in Latin, in a 5th-century work on beasts and reptiles perhaps by Bishop Eucherius of Lyon,^[4] and the DEI compares the use of Ancient Greek θηρίον (thēríon, “wild beast”) for a snake, probably in Magna Graecia.^[10]

The same Latin form gave French biche (“doe”), Old French bisse (“hind”) and Portuguese bicho (“worm, insect”), from which Spanish bicho (“small animal”) was taken.^[9][4] The DEI derives the Iberian words from a diminutive Latin bistula instead.^[10] The learned bestia is the classical form of the word.^[1]

The origin of the Latin word is unclear; de Vaan compares bēlua (“beast”).^[11] A derivation from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwes- (“to breathe”) has been proposed, but it is doubtful, since Latin would be expected to show ⟨f-⟩.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest records are northern: the plural bisse in Bonvesin de la Riva's Milanese verse and in Giacomino da Verona, in the second half of the 13th century.^[2][4] In Dante (1300–1313) the frogs flee before a biscia, the snake that hunts them: Come le rane innanzi a la nimica / biscia per l’acqua si dileguan tutte (“As frogs before the enemy snake all vanish through the water”).^[5][12]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word was a general name for a harmless snake, but also for a hydra, any crawling animal, and a venomous or evil serpent such as a viper;^[2] biscia scudaia was a tortoise or turtle.^[2] In heraldry the snake was the emblem of the Visconti, and the word stood figuratively for the family.^[2]

The DEI notes that the word is now mostly northern, Tuscan preferring serpe.^[10] Biscia d’acqua, the grass snake, is recorded from 1925, while Pascoli and Linati wrote biscia acquaiola.^[5] In shipbuilding the bisce are the limber holes in the floor timbers.^[13][14][15] Tuscan says la biscia becca il ciarlatano, “the snake bites the charmer”: the knave is harmed by the knave.^[16]

French took the word as bisse, a snake in heraldry, recorded from 1611.^[17][18]

Timeline

• 6th–7th century – The Latin form with i is recorded.^[5]
• Late 13th century – The plural bisse appears in Bonvesin de la Riva and Giacomino da Verona.^[2][4]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses biscia.^[5]
• 1611 – French bisse is recorded, from Italian.^[17]
• 1925 – Biscia d’acqua appears in the Zingarelli dictionary.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A harmless, non-venomous snake: una biscia attraversò il sentiero.^[13][14][19]
2. (zoology) The grass snake (Natrix natrix), in full biscia dal collare; also the dice snake and the viperine snake.^[14][15]
3. (figurative) A slippery, untrustworthy person.^[13][7]
4. (nautical) In wooden ships, a limber hole cut in the floor timbers to let bilge water run to the pump well.^[13][14][15]

Word family

• biscione
• abbisciare
• sbisciare
• dibisciare
• sbisciolare
• bisciaro

Related words

• bestia
• French biche

Usage notes

A biscia means “in a zigzag”, with the winding motion of a snake.^[15][20] In older Tuscan it also meant “in plenty”.^[19][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 148
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5, 1273
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. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 530
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 250
13. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ 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)
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 978
17. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
18. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
19. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
20. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli