calzare

Forms

calzare (first-person singular present càlzo, first-person singular past historic calzài, past participle calzàto, auxiliary avére or (intransitive in the figurative meaning "to fit") èssere)^[1] Old Italian spellings include calçare, calsare and calçar.^[2] Ariosto also wrote calciare (1516).^[3] The noun calzare “shoe” (plural calzari) had the old forms Old Italian chalzari (plural) and calzaio.^[4][5]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Latin calceō (“to put on shoes”), from calceus (“shoe”).^{[4][6][7][8][1]} The LEI suggests that Latin may have formed the verb anew from the participle calceātus (“shod”), on the model of barbātus and dentātus.^[3] It survives throughout the Romance languages: French chausser, Occitan causar, Spanish calzar, Portuguese calçar, Sardinian calzare, Romanian încălța, Friulian cialzâ and Romansh chüzzer.^[6][3][9] The dialects of Lombardy and the Veneto also have a type with ⟨o⟩ and a restored ⟨l⟩, such as ⟨colz-⟩ and ⟨golts-⟩.^[3]

The Latin noun is formed from calx (“heel”) with the adjective suffix -eus.^[1][10] The heel word has no secure etymology: de Vaan finds the link with Baltic and Slavic words for parts of the leg doubtful at best, and a proposed non-Indo-European, perhaps Etruscan, origin lacks a concrete source word.^[10]

For the noun, meaning “shoe, sandal”, DELI derives it from calza, and GRADIT treats it as formed from Italian calza + -are, comparing Medieval Latin calciarius, recorded at Ravenna in 942.^[4][7][11] Devoto–Oli start from Vulgar Latin *calcear, and Nocentini from the same noun built on the word for heel.^[12][6] The Treccani and Wiktionary derive it from calciārium, from the Latin word for shoe with the suffix -ārium.^[13][1][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded early in the 13th century in two Cremonese poets, Uguccione da Lodi and Patecchio, with the sense “to put a foot, leg or hand into a close-fitting garment or shoe”.^[2][4][3] Patecchio calls a man a fool who puts on a spur (se calza sperone) only to go about with a bare heel.^[15] The noun appears as the plural chalzari “boots, shoes” in a Florentine notebook of Bene Bencivenni of 1262–1275, and GRADIT dates it before 1236.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the verb for putting on shoes, stockings and the spurs of a knight, for providing someone with shoes, and in the pair calzare e vestire “to clothe from head to foot”.^[2][15] An ordinance of Lucca forbade any woman over seven to have herself shod by a shoemaker.^[16] In the 16th century the verb became intransitive, “to fit closely” (1577, Cini) and figuratively “to be fitting, apt” (before 1543, Firenzuola), and Cellini used it for wedging furniture (before 1571).^[4] In the dialects the verb also means “to earth up a plant” and “to kick”, senses the standard language keeps in rincalzare and calcio.^[3][17] The literary phrases calzare il coturno and calzare il socco mean to write or act tragedy and comedy.^[18][13]

The noun named all kinds of shoe, boot and sandal.^[5] A character in Boccaccio complains that his wages hardly pay for his calzari, and in the Old Italian Bible the command is to loosen the calzari from one's feet, for the place is holy ground.^[16][5] Andare coi calzari di piombo, “to go in lead shoes”, meant to proceed with great caution, and non esser degno di sciogliere i calzari a uno, from John the Baptist's words in Matthew 3:11, to be far inferior to someone.^[16][13] The noun is now literary, used of ancient or rustic footwear, and in the Church for the silk stockings that the pope, cardinals and bishops wore at pontifical Masses.^[12][7][13]

Timeline

• 942 – Medieval Latin calciarius “shoe” is recorded at Ravenna.^[4][11]
• Early 13th century – Patecchio and Uguccione da Lodi use the verb.^[4][2]
• Before 1236 – GRADIT's date for the noun, as chalzari.^[7]
• 1262–1275 – Chalzari “shoes” in the notebook of Bene Bencivenni.^[4]
• 1516 – Ariosto writes calciare for calzare.^[3]
• Before 1543 – Firenzuola uses the verb for “to be fitting”.^[4]
• Before 1571 – Cellini uses it for “to wedge, prop up”.^[4]
• 1577 – The intransitive sense “to fit closely” in G. B. Cini.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To put on shoes, socks, gloves or another close-fitting garment: Calzò gli scarponi e uscì nella neve.^{[7][12][8][18]}
2. (transitive) To wear on the feet or hands: Tutti gli invitati calzavano scarpe di vernice.^[7][12][13]
3. (transitive) To provide with footwear, or to put shoes on someone.^[7][12][8]
4. (transitive) To wedge or prop up a piece of furniture with shims.^{[7][12][8][13]}
5. (intransitive, auxiliary avere) Of shoes and clothes, to fit well or closely.^{[7][12][8][1]}
6. (intransitive, figurative, auxiliary essere) To be apt, to suit the case: Il tuo paragone calza a pennello.^[7][12][1]

Noun

1. (literary, chiefly plural) A shoe or sandal, especially an ancient or rustic one.^{[12][7][8][1]}
2. (ecclesiastical) A liturgical silk stocking covering the foot and leg, worn by the pope and high prelates at pontifical Masses.^{[7][12][13][19]}

Word family

• calzatura
• calzante
• calzatoio
• calzatoia
• calzascarpe
• calzo
• rincalzare
• rincalzo
• calzaturiero
• calzaturificio

Related words

• calza
• calzamaglia
• calzetta
• calzettone
• scalzare
• scalzo
• Latin calceus
• French chausser

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 1017
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 565
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 695
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 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)
14. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ 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, 564
16. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
17. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
18. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
19. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli