briciola

Forms

briciola f (plural briciole)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian bricia (“crumb”) + -ola, a diminutive of a rare noun.^[2][3][4][5] The base is a back-formation from Italian briciare (“to crumble”), which, like French briser (“to break”) and Old Occitan brisar, points to Vulgar Latin *brisiāre (“to break”).^[2][5][6] Nocentini starts instead from a noun *brīsia.^[5]

The Latin evidence is brīsa (“grape pressings”) in Columella and a rare late brīsāre (“to tread grapes”), known from a scholion on Persius.^[5][7] Both are thought to be Gaulish, by comparison with Old Irish brissim (“I break”) and Breton bresk.^[5][7] DELI follows the Celtic explanation but points to the objections of DEI,^[2] and Meyer-Lübke left the origin open.^[8]

The older forms are kept best in Gallo-Italian, where Emilian brisar means “to break” and brisa “crumb”.^[5] The Italian forms with ⟨c⟩ are palatalised.^[1] Medieval Latin bricia appears in the Life of Saint Franca, and northern dialects have Emilian ⟨bris'la⟩ and Romagnol ⟨bris'ul⟩.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Fra Gidio in the 13th century, for a small fragment of food, especially of bread, and Battaglia quotes him wishing to be filled with the crumbs of the bread.^[2][10] The TLIO's first record is in the letters of Giovanni Colombini (before 1367, Siena), for the remains of food.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The old forms bricia (13th century) and bricio (14th–17th centuries) stood beside briciola.^[9] The masculine briciolo, for which Tommaseo found the masculine commoner, is recorded before 1565 in Varchi, chiefly in figurative use.^[2][12] In the Nencia da Barberino (1473–1476) bricioli seems to mean ornaments of the hair.^[2]

The extended sense “a tiny amount of any material, also figurative” is first recorded in Carducci in 1862.^[2] Today the word also names a frail, tiny person, especially a child, as a term of endearment.^[3] The verb sbriciolare “to crumble” was formed in the 17th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 13th century – Fra Gidio uses briciola for a crumb of bread.^[2]
• 14th century – The Leggenda di sant'Alessio has the word.^[2]
• Before 1367 – Giovanni Colombini writes briciole.^[11]
• 1473–1476 – Bricioli appears in the Nencia da Barberino.^[2]
• Before 1565 – Briciolo is recorded in Benedetto Varchi.^[2]
• 17th century – Sbriciolare is formed.^[5]
• 1862 – Carducci uses the word for a tiny amount of anything.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A crumb, a tiny fragment of bread, a biscuit or similar food.^[3][13][14]
2. (by extension) A tiny fragment of anything.^[3][4]
3. (figurative) A very small, insignificant amount, a trifle: le briciole, the scraps that are left over.^[3][13][15]
4. (colloquial, affectionate) A tiny, slight person, especially a child.^[3]

Word family

• briciolo
• sbriciolare
• briciolame
• briciolina

Related words

• French briser

Usage notes

Common phrases are ridurre in briciole “to smash to pieces”, also figuratively “to destroy”, and andare in briciole “to break into pieces”.^[3][14][15]

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 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 7, 511
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 599
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 373
11. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana