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cacciatore

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word cacciatore

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1100s last quarter of the 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur (Venetian) More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Latin capiō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian cacciare
Italian cacciatore
From the same root
Italian caccia ← cacciare

Pronunciation

  • /kat.t͡ʃaˈto.re/[1]

Forms

cacciatore m (plural cacciatori, feminine cacciatrice)[1] Old Italian forms include cacciadore, caçador, cazador and cachaturi.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian cacciare (“to hunt”) + -tore.[4][5][1][2] The verb is from Vulgar Latin *captiāre, an intensive of Latin capiō (“to take”).[6][7][8] Körting set up a Vulgar Latin agent noun *captiātor, to which he traced Old Occitan cassador, French chasseur, Spanish cazador and Portuguese caçador.[9] Wiktionary compares the same Romance words and Romanian căutător.[1]

The sense “light-infantry soldier” is a calque of the same French word, according to Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti.[10][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur of the last quarter of the 12th century, with the sense “one who hunts”.[2] DELI's first record is in the Sicilian poet Stefano Protonotaro, in the mid-13th century, with the same sense.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word also described predatory animals (uccelli cacciatori, the birds of prey, in Bono Giamboni's translation of the Tresor), and Dante's Purgatorio calls a podestà of Florence a hunter of the “wolves” on the bank of the Arno.[3][11][2] The TLIO also records the senses “persecutor” and the constellation of Orion, the hunter.[2]

The figurative “one who stubbornly pursues something” is recorded before 1686, in Frugoni.[6] At court a gran cacciatore or cacciator maggiore was in charge of the prince's hunts.[11][12] In 1797 D'Alberti records the plural cacciatori for light infantry or cavalry, after French chasseurs, and in April 1859 Garibaldi's volunteers took the name Cacciatori delle Alpi.[6][12] The 20th century added the fighter pilot and the fighter plane, and cacciatore di teste for a headhunter, a calque of English headhunter.[10][12]

English has cacciatore as a cookery term, “hunter-style”, by 1973.[13]

Timeline

  • Last quarter of the 12th century – the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur has the word.[2]
  • Mid-13th century – Stefano Protonotaro uses cacciatore “hunter”.[6]
  • About 1274 – GRADIT's date of first record.[4]
  • Before 1686 – F. F. Frugoni uses it for one who stubbornly seeks something.[6]
  • 1797 – D'Alberti records cacciatori for light-armed soldiers.[6]
  • 1859 – Garibaldi's volunteer corps is named Cacciatori delle Alpi.[12]
  • 1973 – English cacciatore “hunter-style” is recorded in cookery.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A hunter, one who hunts game, especially with a gun: cacciatore di frodo is a poacher.[4][10][14]
  2. (figurative) One who eagerly pursues something: cacciatore di dote is a fortune hunter, cacciatore di teste a headhunter.[4][10][14]
  3. (history, military) A soldier of a light-armed corps of the 18th and 19th centuries: i Cacciatori delle Alpi of Garibaldi.[4][5][15]
  4. (military) A fighter pilot, and less commonly a fighter plane.[4][14][15]
  5. (archaic) A footman in livery who rode on the carriages of noble families.[4][10][14]
  6. (as an adjective) Hunting, predatory: un uccello cacciatore.[5][16][2]

Word family

  • cacciatora
  • cacciatorino
  • cacciatrice

Usage notes

The feminine is cacciatrice.[1][14] The proverbial l’uomo è cacciatore says that men are by nature inclined to court and seduce women.[4][10][12] The cookery phrase alla cacciatora “hunter-style” is under cacciatora.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  10. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  14. ^ a b c d e 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
  16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cacciatore.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/cacciatore. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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