boccola

Forms

boccola f (plural boccole)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin buccula (“little cheek”), the diminutive of bucca (“cheek”), which also meant the boss of a shield, whence the sense “buckle”.^[2][3][4][5] DELI suspects that in all its senses the word came through French, and the DEI thinks it probably came by a Gallo-Romance route (French boucle, Old Occitan bocla, Emilian bocla) or from southern Italy.^[2][6] The LEI calls DELI's view problematic, since the word is already in the Novellino and in Siena in 1309–10; only bùccola “earring” may be an adapted loan of boucle d'oreille.^[7]

The Latin word survives as such only in southern Italy, while Gallo-Romance and Italo-Romance share the senses of things shaped like a cheek or a ring, as in the French and Occitan words.^[7][3]

The Latin noun is formed with the diminutive -ula.^[1][8] De Vaan holds that the sense “mouth” of the base word is secondary and was at first derogatory;^[9] Celtic origin has been suspected, and a link with Germanic words would point to a substrate.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, where boccola is a stud or medallion fastened on the breast as an ornament: una boccola con un fibbiaglio, “a boss with a clasp”.^[2][10][11] The TLIO also records boccola dello scudo, the boss in the middle of a shield.^[10]

Semantic evolution

At Siena in 1309–10 boccole were rings of precious metal that women wore on the arms.^[7] The word passed to technical uses: a metal ring fitted inside the hub of a cart wheel so that the axle does not wear the wood (Ruscelli, before 1566), an iron ring binding the end of a timber under heavy pressure (D'Alberti, 1797), and a metal lining in naval carpentry.^[7][2][11] In the 20th century it became a mechanical term for a bush or bearing (Panzini, 1905), and later the axle box of railway vehicles, a socket for a plug, and a figure of artistic skating.^[2][4][12]

The sense “earring” (from 1855 for bòccola) is mostly given to buccola.^[2][12] The derivative bóccolo, a long curl of hair, is in Belli from 1832;^[2] Medieval Latin bocola “tuft of cotton” is recorded at Venice in 1279.^[2] In the dialects of the north and centre bocla, bókola and vùccola name the ring of the wheel hub.^[7]

Timeline

• 1279 – Medieval Latin bocola “tuft of cotton” is recorded at Venice.^[2]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino has boccola “ornamental stud”.^[2][10]
• 1309–1310 – Sienese boccole are bracelets.^[7]
• Before 1566 – Ruscelli uses boccola for the iron ring in a wheel hub.^[7][11]
• 1789 – Goldoni uses bùccola “earring”.^[7]
• 1797 – D'Alberti records the word as a smiths' and coachbuilders' term.^[2]
• 1832 – Belli uses boccolo “curl”.^[2]
• 1855 – Ugolini records bòccola “drop earring”.^[2]
• 1905 – Panzini records the mechanical sense.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ornamental stud or buckle.^[4][13][5]
2. A drop earring (more often buccola).^[4][13][12]
3. (mechanics) A bushing: a hollow cylinder used as a bearing or guide for a pin or shaft: Il meccanico sostituì la boccola consumata del perno.^[4][13][14]
4. (railways) The axle box that carries the load onto the axle journals and lubricates them.^[4][5][14]
5. (electricity) A single-pole socket into which a plug is inserted for a temporary connection.^[4][13][14]
6. (sport) In artistic skating, a compulsory figure of two circles of different size.^[4][15][14]
7. An iron ring binding the end of a timber subject to heavy pressure.^[5][14]

Word family

• boccolo
• boccoletta
• imboccolatura

Related words

• bocca
• buccola
• French boucle
• Latin buccula

Usage notes

Zingarelli lists a second boccola as a variant of buccola “earring”, which the LEI explains as a possible adaptation of French boucle d'oreille.^[14][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 548
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 7, 1375
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana