braca

Forms

braca f (plural brache)^[1] The northern and older form is braga, with the -k- voiced as in the dialects of the north.^[2][3] Old forms include Old Italian brache, Old Italian braga, Old Italian braghe and Old Italian brague.^[4] The south has Neapolitan vràca at Naples.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin brāca, used mostly in the plural, ⟨brācae⟩, for trousers.^[6][7][8][1] Ancient writers such as Diodorus Siculus and Hesychius record it as a Gaulish word for a garment of the Celtic peoples that the Romans did not wear.^[6][7] The LEI adds that it first appears in Lucilius (113 BC) and may be a Germanic loan into Celtic.^[5] The Latin Wiktionary gives Gaulish *brāca, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *brāks, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrāg- (“rump, hindquarters”).^[1]

The word lives on in every Romance language: Romanian brace, French braies, Occitan bragas, Catalan bragues, Spanish bragas, Portuguese bragas and Sardinian bragas.^[5][7][9] DEI notes that it is rare in the south.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Latin documents of Italy the word appears in a papyrus of Ravenna of 564 (bracas lineas, linen breeches), and as bragarum par unum (one pair of breeches) in a document of 721.^[6] The TLIO's first Italian record is the 10th-century Monza Glossary, with the sense of a garment covering the body from the waist down.^[4] Nocentini dates the word to 1178–1182, and the 12th-century Dichiarazione di Paxia has paria .ii. de brague (two pairs of breeches).^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages brache were the breeches worn without a tunic.^[11] They were later worn under other clothes, grew tighter, and by the 16th century had turned into underpants.^[11][3] G. Villani reports a man scornfully told to look for his breeches if he was afraid, and the Milione describes the huge linen brache of noblewomen.^[12] The diminutive brachetta appears in 1561, and as the flap covering the opening of trousers already in Berni, before 1535.^[6] Bracalone, a man whose trousers are always falling down, follows in 1726.^[6]

By extension the word came to mean bands that pass between the legs or around a load: the breeching of a harness (1853), the cloth nappy and the harness holding a worker over a drop (both 1941).^[6] Vasari already uses it for the rope sling that lifts heavy loads.^[13][10] In Tuscany the plural also means gossip.^[10][2] Idioms include calare le brache (to give in out of fear) and restare in brache di tela (to be left penniless).^[8][14][11]

Timeline

• 564 – Bracas lineas appears in a Latin papyrus of Ravenna.^[6]
• 721 – Bragarum par unum appears in a Latin document.^[6]
• 10th century – The Monza Glossary has the word.^[4]
• 968 – Pario de brache is recorded in the Codex Cavensis.^[10]
• 12th century – The Dichiarazione di Paxia has brague.^[6]
• Before 1535 – Berni uses brachetta for the fly of trousers.^[6]
• 1726 – Bracalone is recorded in A. M. Salvini.^[6]
• 1853 – D'Ayala records the harness sense.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly in the plural) breeches: short, close-fitting trousers worn by the barbarian peoples of antiquity and widely in the Middle Ages.^[8][11][3]
2. (colloquial, chiefly in the plural) trousers; underpants, especially long ones: Si è strappato le brache scavalcando il muro.^[8][11][14]
3. (rare) Either leg of a pair of trousers.^[8][14][3]
4. (dated) A cloth nappy put between a baby's legs.^[8][11]
5. A harness strap passing between the legs and fastened at the waist of a worker hanging over a drop; also part of a horse's harness.^[8][2][14]
6. (nautical) A rope or chain sling for lifting or lowering heavy loads.^[8][11][14]
7. A tether that holds a decoy bird while leaving it free to flutter.^[8][11][3]
8. (bookbinding) A strip of paper glued over a torn page, or one that joins an insert to a book.^[8][11][2]
9. (Tuscany, chiefly in the plural) gossip, idle talk.^[2][14][3]

Word family

• brachetta
• bracalone
• bracaloni
• imbracare
• imbracatura
• sbracare
• sbracato
• imbrachettare
• brachiere

Related words

• sbracarsi
• French braies
• Latin braca

Usage notes

Calare or calarsi le brache means to give in out of fear, portare le brache is said of a woman who rules the household, and restare in brache di tela means to be left with nothing.^[8][3][14] Braca di cucco is a popular name for several plants.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ 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)
4. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 6, 1632
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 581
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 339
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli