calzolaio

Forms

calzolaio m (plural calzolai, feminine calzolaia)^[1] Early forms include Old Italian calzolaro, Old Italian calçolaio, Old Italian calsulaio and Old Italian cauzularu.^[2] Calzolaro lives on in central Italy.^[3][4] The dialects have Emilian calzular at Bologna, Romagnol calzolêr in Romagna and Corsican calzularu in Corsica.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin calceolārius (“shoemaker”), from calceolus (“little shoe”), the diminutive of calceus (“shoe”).^{[6][7][3][8][1]} The Latin word is found in Plautus.^[5][9] The word for “shoe” is itself a noun use of an adjective formed from calx (“heel”).^[1] The ending ⟨-ariu⟩ gave ⟨-aio⟩ as it normally does in Tuscan.^[10]

The LEI separates a Vulgar Latin layer with ⟨-aro⟩, as in the central calzolaro, from a later one with ⟨-aio⟩.^[5] The word belongs to central and northern Italy only: the south uses scarparo and northern Italy types from caligarius.^[5][9] Medieval Latin calzolarius is recorded at Bologna in 1254.^[9] No other Romance language continues the Latin word.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Sienese document of 1231–1232.^[2][7] Old Italian used the word for a craftsman who made, mended or sold shoes, usually of leather, and who often also tanned the hides himself.^[2] DELI's first literary example is in Ugieri Apugliese, in the first half of the 13th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the sense could widen to any worker in leather, a cuoiaio or conciatore, and the word translated Latin cerdo.^[2] Villani lists the shoemakers among the guilds of Florence, and Dante's Convivio mentions Asdente, “the shoemaker of Parma”.^[12]

Today it names the craftsman who makes or repairs shoes, and also his shop.^[8][13] Sabatini–Coletti and the GDLI give ciabattino as a synonym.^[4][12] Medicine speaks of a torace da calzolaio, a chest deformity named after the shoemaker.^[8][13]

Timeline

• 1231–1232 – A Sienese document has the first record.^[2][7][14]
• First half of the 13th century – Ugieri Apugliese uses the word.^[6]
• 1254 – Medieval Latin calzolarius is recorded at Bologna.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. shoemaker, cobbler: a craftsman who makes or repairs shoes: Ho portato gli stivali dal calzolaio per i tacchi.^{[8][3][14][1]}
2. A shoemaker's shop.^[8]

Word family

• calzoleria

Related words

• calza
• calzatura
• scarpa
• ciabattino
• Latin calceolarius

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 1080
6. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 695
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ 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, 567
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli