bozza

Forms

bozza f (plural bozze)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bottia (“swelling, protuberance”), a form not recorded in Latin and of unknown origin.^[2][3][4][5] DELI derives boccia from the same base, and Devoto–Oli, Zingarelli, Gabrielli and the GDLI call this word its northern form.^{[2][6][7][8][9]} Related words in other Romance languages are Old Occitan bossa (“swelling, tumour”), French bosse (“hump, bump”), Occitan bossa and Spanish bocio (“goitre”).^[2][3]

A Germanic origin has also been proposed: Zaccaria and Körting connected the word with Old High German bōzan (“to beat”), and Wiktionary takes the Vulgar Latin base from Frankish *boce (“knob”).^[10][11][1] The GDLI rejects a source in Germanic because of Romanian boț (“ball”), which Nocentini also lists among the cognates.^[9][3]

The first sense was a swelling or bump; it passed to a projecting stone left rough, then to unfinished work and a first draft.^[3] DELI treats the sense “draft” as an extension of the same word.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Florentine translation of the Tesoro at the end of the 13th century, with the sense of a bump or swelling; the word was also used in medicine for a pustule.^[12] Giovanni Villani, writing of the plague before 1348, describes “certain swellings called gavoccioli, and some called ghianducce, and some called bozze” (Certi enfiati chiamati gavoccioli, e tali ghianducce, e tali chiamavano bozze).^[2][13]

Semantic evolution

At Orvieto in 1353–1354 the diminutives vocella and bozzella appear, and by 1550 Vasari used bozza for a roughly dressed stone projecting from a wall, the bugna of rusticated masonry.^[2][13] The sense “first draft” is older in print: Machiavelli wrote boza di capitoli (a draft of the articles) in 1511, other 16th-century writers used the same phrase, and Annibal Caro wrote bozzaccia in 1538.^[2][9] Sculptors and painters spoke of reducing their imperfect bozze to finished work.^[9]

D'Alberti's dictionary of 1797 records the printing sense, the proof on which the author or the corrector marks errors,^[2] and today bozza is also the first draft of a contract, a law or a plan.^[4][5] In anatomy bozze frontali are the bulges of the forehead (1962).^[2] The same base gave abbozzare (1552), abbozzo (1604), sbozzare and bozzetto.^[3]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – The Florentine translation of the Tesoro has bozza “swelling”.^[12]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani names the plague swellings bozze.^[2]
• 1353–1354 – Vocella and bozzella are recorded at Orvieto.^[2]
• 1511 – Machiavelli writes boza di capitoli, a draft of articles.^[2]
• 1538 – Annibal Caro uses bozzaccia.^[2]
• 1550 – Vasari uses bozza for a projecting stone and for a draft.^[2]
• 1552 – Abbozzare “to sketch out” is recorded.^[3]
• 1797 – D'Alberti records the sense “printer's proof”.^[2]
• 1962 – Bozze frontali is recorded in anatomy.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bump, swelling or lump: Dopo la caduta gli è venuta una bozza in fronte.^[4][6][7]
2. (anatomy) A rounded bulge on the surface of the skull: bozze frontali, parietali.^[6][7][5]
3. (architecture) A roughly dressed stone projecting from a wall; a bugna.^{[6][14][7][5]}
4. A first draft of a text, project or document: Hanno discusso la bozza del regolamento.^[4][6][5]
5. (printing) A proof, a trial print of a text with wide margins for corrections; often in the plural: correggere le bozze.^[4][7][5]
6. (geography) A rock rising from the bed of a river or glacier that splits the flow: bozze fluviali, glaciali.^[6][5]
7. A loaf of bread of no definite shape.^[4][6]

Word family

• abbozzare
• abbozzo
• sbozzare
• sbozzo
• bozzetto
• bozzello
• bozzacchio

Related words

• boccia
• bugna
• French bosse

Usage notes

A nautical bozza, a short rope or chain that holds another cable under tension or holds a weight, is a separate 17th-century borrowing of French bosse “rope with an eye or knot”, the French form of the same word; from it comes the Florentine slang abbozzala “drop it”.^[3][4][15] DEI also records a northern bozza “bottle”, documented at Venice from the 13th century.^[16] Common phrases are correttore di bozze (proofreader) and giro di bozze (round of proofs).^[4][7]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 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 e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 336
10. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
16. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 579