brigata

Forms

brigata f (plural brigate)^[1] Northern old forms include Old Italian brigada and Old Italian bregadha.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Italian brigare, in its old sense “to keep company with someone”, with the suffix -ata.^[3][4][5][1] DEI, Treccani and the GDLI derive it directly from briga, in the old sense “company” or “fight”.^[6][7][8] Nocentini explains that the verb, in the sense “to frequent, be together”, gave both this word and brigante.^[9]

The origin of the noun is unclear.^[3] DELI allows that it may be Gaulish *brīga (“strength”), if “strength” was its first sense, as in Dante.^[3] Nocentini takes the Gaulish source as certain, comparing Old Irish brig (“strength, worth”).^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto, before 1274, with the sense “a group of people together for pleasure”.^[2] Latini advises: E quando se' in brigata, / seguisci ogne fiata / lor via e lor piacere, “and when you are in company, always follow their way and their pleasure”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian brigata was any group of people or things, a ship's crew, a retinue, the company of someone, and an army or a band of armed men.^[2] Dante uses it for the spendthrift company of Siena.^[8] In Boccaccio's Decameron the onesta brigata is the company of seven women and three young men who tell the stories.^[10] It could also mean one's household or children, a sense now only jocular, and a flock of birds or a herd.^[7][11][6] The proverb poca brigata, vita beata says that life is better in small company.^[12][10]

In the military sense the word named a band of soldiers of fortune and then a unit of the army: DELI dates the large irregular troop to Sacchetti (before 1400) and the tactical unit to Filippo Villani (before 1405).^[3] The 20th century added the Brigate internazionali of the Spanish Civil War, the partisan brigate, the fascist Brigate nere and the terrorist Brigate rosse.^[10] Brigatista followed, first for the black brigades (1950), then about 1974 for the red ones.^[10][3]

The word was borrowed as Middle French brigade about 1360, with the sense “troop”, and French passed it on to English and German.^[13][1] The sense “team of workers”, found in Italian from the 1930s, came from French brigade, as did Russian brigada.^[3]

Timeline

• Before 1274 – Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto has the first record.^[2]
• About 1360 – French borrows the word as brigade.^[13]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses it for a large band of fighters.^[3]
• Before 1405 – Filippo Villani uses it for a military unit.^[3]
• 1950 – Brigatista nero is recorded.^[3]
• About 1974 – Brigatista rosso appears in the press.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A group of people, especially friends, who meet to enjoy themselves; a party, company: una brigata di vecchi compagni di liceo.^[4][11][5]
2. (archaic, now jocular) One's family or children.^[4][11][14]
3. (military) A brigade, a unit of two or three regiments or of several battalions: generale di brigata.^[4][10][14]
4. (archaic) A band of armed men, especially mercenaries.^[4][14]
5. An organized group of irregular fighters: brigate partigiane, Brigate rosse.^[4][10][5]
6. (cooking) brigata di cucina: the kitchen staff of a restaurant.^[11]

Word family

• brigatista
• brigatismo
• brigatella
• brigatina

Related words

• briga
• brigare
• brigante
• French brigade

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 600
7. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana