bottega

Forms

bottega f (plural botteghe)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin apothēca (“storehouse, wine store”), borrowed by Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “storehouse”), from ἀποτίθημι (apotíthēmi, “to put away”), formed with ἀπο- (apo-, “away”) and τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”).^[2][3][1][4] In the Reichenau Glosses of the 8th century the Latin word still meant “cellar”.^[2][5]

DELI calls the details of its entry into Italian very complex.^[2] The initial /b/ points to the northern dialects, and DEI calls the word a Tuscan adaptation of a northern word.^[2][6][7] The initial /a/ was lost by being taken for part of the article, ⟨l'abottega⟩ becoming ⟨la bottega⟩, and the double /tt/ may come from botte.^[2][8][5][7] The LEI also explains the loss by a wrong division of the article, and notes that southern Italy keeps the voiceless /p/ of forms such as poteca.^[9]

Nocentini sees two routes from Greek: through Latin, with stressed /e/ (Spanish bodega, Portuguese adega “cellar”), and later through Byzantine Greek, with /i/ from its pronunciation (Occitan botica, which gave French boutique, Catalan botiga and botica (“pharmacy”)).^[3][6] The oldest type is kept in Old Spanish abdega and in the Portuguese form.^[9][6] It is a doublet of boutique.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a Pisan document of the first half of the 12th century, in the sense of a ground-floor room opening on the street, used to store, show or sell goods or as a workshop.^[10][3] DELI also notes Pisan boteghe between the 11th and 12th centuries, Sienese butiga in 1241 and bottega in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century.^[2] Medieval Latin puteghis is recorded at Benevento in 1038.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian had many phrases from trade: aprire bottega, tenere bottega, serrare le botteghe (to stop work), and compagno di bottega, a fellow worker.^[10] The sense “craftsman's workshop” is recorded in Boccaccio (1348–1353), and the studio of an established artist with his pupils, from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, in Cellini before 1571.^[2] In 1809 Lanzi noted that what were then called studios had once been called botteghe.^[2]

Bottegaio meant an apprentice in Florence in 1317–1319 and a shopkeeper in Siena in 1342.^[2] Botteghino became a ticket office (1720) and a lottery office (1797).^[2] Later uses include opera di bottega, a work by a master's assistants, bottega teatrale, a training workshop, Botteghe Oscure, the Rome street of the Communist Party headquarters, and the jocular bottega for a trouser fly.^{[11][12][13][14]}

German borrowed the word in 1472–1480, and English used it from the 19th century for a wine shop or café, and since 1900 for an artist's workshop, especially in Italy.^[15]

Timeline

• First half of the 12th century – The word appears in a Pisan document.^[10][3]
• 1241 – Sienese butiga is recorded.^[2]
• 1268 – Boctecha appears in a Lucca register.^[2]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino has bottega.^[2]
• 1342 – Bottighai “shopkeepers” is recorded at Siena.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for a workshop.^[2]
• 1472–1480 – German borrows the word.^[15]
• Before 1571 – Cellini uses it for an artist's studio.^[2]
• 1720 – Botteghino “ticket office” appears in B. Marcello.^[2]
• 1900 – English uses bottega for an artist's workshop.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small shop, especially a food shop: la bottega di alimentari sotto casa.^{[11][13][16][1]}
2. A craftsman's workshop.^{[11][13][16][1]}
3. (art history) The studio where a master worked with his pupils; the pupils themselves: opera di bottega.^[11][12][16]
4. A training workshop for young artists: bottega teatrale.^[11][13]
5. (colloquial, humorous) The fly of trousers.^[11][13][1]

Word family

• bottegaio
• botteghino
• retrobottega
• bottegante
• bottegone

Related words

• boutique
• apoteca
• Latin apotheca
• Spanish bodega

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include aprire or chiudere bottega (to start or stop a business), stare a bottega (to work as an apprentice) and a uscio e bottega (living right by one's workplace).^[11][12][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 167
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 576
7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 130
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 d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)