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botta

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word botta

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1280 Serventese dei Lambertazzi e dei Geremei More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Italian bottare
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian botta
French botte
Spanish bota

Pronunciation

Forms

botta f (plural botte)[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun: it is from Italian bottare (“to strike”), an old verb recorded from the 13th century in the Giostra delle virtù e dei vizi.[2][3][4][1] Nocentini instead derives it from buttare in its old sense “to strike”, with an open /ɔ/ in place of the expected close /o/, probably because the word was felt to be imitative.[5] The older masculine botto is recorded before 1274.[5]

The origin of the verb is disputed: DELI, Sabatini–Coletti and Wiktionary take it from Old French boter (“to push, strike”), from Frankish *bōtan (“to push, strike”).[2][4][1] Merlo and Prati preferred an imitative base ⟨*bott-⟩, the sound of something bursting with a crash.[2][6] The LEI follows them: it sets up a pre-Latin base ⟨*bott-⟩ “blow”, continued by Old French bot, Old Occitan but and Romansh böt in the Grisons.[6] It rejects the Frankish source because the open vowel and the kept /t/ don't fit a French loan, and because Medieval Latin personal names from Padua such as ⟨Botamariga⟩ (1078) are older than the supposed borrowing.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Bolognese Serventese dei Lambertazzi e dei Geremei (about 1280): percotando de gram botta, “striking with a great blow”.[2] The TLIO's first record is in Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, with the sense “a blow dealt with the hand, the fist or a blunt object”.[7][5]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used botta for the knock of one body against another, and had a una sola botta, “at one stroke”.[7] Salimbene (1281–1288) quotes a vernacular proverb about the ass that kicks the wall: botta dà, botta receve, “it gives a blow, it gets a blow”.[2]

The word then spread to the effects of a blow: Ariosto (1516) uses it for the bang of objects striking each other or of an explosion, and Caro (before 1566) for a cutting remark;[2] Baldelli (1580) has the figurative “heavy loss”.[2] In fencing botta is a hit or thrust (parar le botte, Tommaseo 1865), and DEI says that from fencing it passed into French as botte.[2][8] The French word is recorded from 1590.[9] According to Bandello, botta e risposta, “thrust and riposte”, a quick exchange of remarks, also comes from fencing.[2] Tenere botta, “to hold out”, recalls di tutta botta, said in 1449 of armour that withstood every blow.[2]

The modern senses include the bruise or dent a knock leaves (1941), and the underwater explosion of dynamite used in illegal fishing (1950).[2] In colloquial speech botta is also a sudden fit (una botta di sonno), a quick go at a job, and, vulgarly, a brief sexual encounter.[3][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1280 – The Serventese dei Lambertazzi e dei Geremei has de gram botta.[2]
  • 1281–1288 – Salimbene quotes the proverb botta dà, botta receve.[2]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the word.[7][5]
  • 1314 – Francesco da Barberino uses it for a knock from bumping into something.[2][10]
  • 1449 – Di tutta botta is said of armour proof against any blow.[2]
  • 1516 – Ariosto uses botta for a loud bang.[2]
  • Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses it for a cutting remark.[2]
  • 1590 – French botte, the fencing thrust, is first recorded.[9]
  • Before 1876 – Settembrini has botte da orbi.[2]
  • 1941 – The sense “mark left by a knock” is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A blow, a sudden violent hit with the hand or a blunt object: Gli diede una botta sulla spalla. Fare a botte is to come to blows.[10][3][4]
  2. A knock or bump taken when falling or striking against something: Ho preso una botta contro lo spigolo.[10][3][4]
  3. (colloquial) The mark a knock leaves: a bruise on the body, a dent on an object.[10][3][4]
  4. A loud bang, an explosion or a shot; also a firework that goes off with a sharp bang.[10][3][4]
  5. (figurative) A heavy blow of fortune, a loss or a defeat: Il fallimento della ditta fu una brutta botta.[10][3][4]
  6. (figurative) A jibe, a pointed remark.[10][4]
  7. (fencing) A hit or thrust.[4][10]
  8. (figurative, colloquial) A time, a go: in una botta, all at once; also a quick, rough job: dare una botta to a piece of work.[10]
  9. (figurative, colloquial) A sudden fit or surge: Mi è venuta una botta di malinconia.[3][1]
  10. (vulgar) A quick act of sexual intercourse.[10][1]
  11. The spread of shot that hits an animal.[10]

Usage notes

Botte da orbi are wild, indiscriminate blows;[3][2] a botta calda is “in the heat of the moment”, and tenere botta “to hold out, stand firm”.[3][2] A separate Tuscan botta means “toad”, and figuratively a short, ungainly person: it is recorded in Boccaccio (1348–1353).[2][10] Its origin is uncertain: Merlo saw the same imitative base as in botta “blow”, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli a Germanic *butt- “blunt”, compared with Old French bot (“toad”), and DEI calls it of unknown origin.[2][5][3][11] GRADIT also lists a dialect botta for the river goby, of uncertain origin.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 w 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 k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 6, 1299
  7. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 574
  9. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 575
Cite this entry

“Botta.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/botta. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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