Etymologically
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cadavere

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Pronunciation

  • /kaˈda.ve.re/[1]

Forms

cadavere m (plural cadaveri)[1] The older form is Old Italian cadavero, used until the 18th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin cadāver (“corpse”) (genitive “cadāveris”).[2][4][5][6] The Old Italian form “cadavero” was remade after masculine nouns in “-o”.[2][3][7] The form closer to the Latin began to spread in the 17th century and had replaced the older one by the 18th.[2] As a learned word it has parallels in French cadavre, Catalan cadàver, Spanish cadáver and Portuguese cadáver.[4][3]

The ancients already connected the noun with Latin cadō (“to fall”), and Isidore wrote that it is named “a cadendo, quia iam stare non potest” (“from falling, because it can no longer stand”).[8][2][9] Nocentini explains it as “the fallen one”, formed with the suffix of the Indo-European perfect participle, like Ancient Greek πτῶμα (ptôma, “corpse”), properly “what has fallen”.[4][6] De Vaan accepts this with reservations.[1] A medieval folk etymology read the word as “caro data vermibus”, “flesh given to worms”.[1]

Southern dialect forms with “l” may show Ibero-Romance influence, compare Catalan calavera (“skull”).[3] In Neapolitan catàvërë means a run-down person close to death.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Sienese Fatti di Cesare of the late 13th century, for a dead human body.[10] GRADIT dates the word to before 1364, in Zanobi da Strada, who already explained it “secondo i grammatici, da cadere” (“according to the grammarians, from cadere”).[5][2][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word also named the carcass of an animal.[10] In 1551 Giovan Battista Gelli still felt it as a Latin word: the dead body is called “un cadavero, a modo de' latini, o veramente un morto, a modo de' volgari” (“a cadavero, in the Latin way, or rather a dead man, in the common way”).[2] The form cadavere appears in Leon Battista Alberti about 1472 and in Giovan Battista Marino in 1623.[3][2]

From the 16th to the 18th century cadavero was also used for a wreck or a broken machine, such as a stopped clock.[3][11] Figuratively the word describes a very pale or emaciated person, un cadavere ambulante.[5][12] Journalists speak of a cadavere eccellente, a prominent victim, after Francesco Rosi's film Cadaveri eccellenti (1975).[12]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – The Sienese Fatti di Cesare use the word.[10]
  • Before 1364 – Zanobi da Strada uses cadavero.[2][5]
  • About 1472 – Leon Battista Alberti writes cadavere.[3]
  • 1551 – Gelli calls cadavero a Latin word.[2]
  • 1623 – Giovan Battista Marino uses cadavere.[2]
  • 1745 – The adjective cadaverico is recorded.[2]
  • 1975 – Francesco Rosi's film Cadaveri eccellenti is released.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A corpse, the human body after death: I soccorritori trovarono il cadavere sotto le macerie.[5][12][7]
  2. (colloquial) The carcass of an animal: C'era il cadavere di un riccio sul bordo della strada.[5][10]
  3. (figurative) A very pale or emaciated person: Dopo la malattia sembrava un cadavere.[5][12][13]

Word family

  • cadaverico
  • cadaverina

Usage notes

In Italian law vilipendio di cadavere (desecration of a corpse) and occultamento di cadavere (concealment of a corpse) are offences.[12][14] Bianco or freddo come un cadavere means deathly pale or cold.[5][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 402
  4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 657
  7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 486
  9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 1100
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana