capezzale

Forms

capezzale m (plural capezzali)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian capezale, Old Italian capeççale, Old Italian chapezzale and Sicilian capiczali.^[2][3] A northern variant is cavezzale, recorded in Lombard regional Italian in 1870.^[4][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *capitiale, a noun from the adjective capitialis (“relating to the head”).^[5][6][7][8] The adjective is derived from Latin capitium (“the opening of the tunic for the head; extremity”), itself from caput (“head”).^{[6][9][1][10]} DELI and Nocentini give the noun as a reconstruction, but the LEI notes that Late Latin capitiale “pillow” is found in a variant reading of the Rule of Saint Benedict, from the 6th century.^[4][11]

Related forms in the other Romance languages include Spanish cabezal, Portuguese cabeçal, Catalan capçal and Occitan cabeçal.^[1] The LEI also records Old Dalmatian capizale (1365) and Old Occitan capsal “head of the bed”.^[4] The same Latin word gave capezza, capezzolo and cavezza.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record, in a Sienese document of 1277–1282, has the sense “neckline of a garment”.^[2] The sense “pillow” follows in a Florentine text of about 1287 and in a Sienese document of 1298.^[4][2] Iacopone da Todi, who died in 1306, describes a poor bed whose pillow is only a bit of straw: lo capezal aguardace, ch'è un poco de pagliccio.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

From the long pillow across the head of the bed the word came to mean that end of the bed itself.^[2][12] Old Italian already used al capezzale for “at the point of death”, and Tommaseo gives essere al capezzale in this sense.^[2][11] From there the modern sense developed: the bed of a sick or dying person, by which relatives and friends gather.^[12][13]

The old sense “neckline, collar” of a dress is found in Sacchetti, who wrote of women col capezzale tanto aperto (“with the neckline so open”).^[14][15] In Tuscan the word also named a bank of sand in a river bed, covered when the river is in flood.^[11][15]

Timeline

• 1277–1282 – A Sienese document uses the word for the neckline of a garment.^[2]
• c. 1287 – A Florentine text uses it for a pillow.^[4]
• 1298 – A Sienese document has the sense “pillow”.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses the form capezal.^[5][8]
• 1365 – Old Dalmatian capizale is recorded.^[4]
• 1870 – Lombard regional cavezzale appears in Carlo Dossi.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long, narrow bolster as wide as the bed, placed under the pillow to raise it.^[12][15][14]
2. The head of the bed, near the testata.^[12][13][14]
3. (figurative) The bedside of a sick or dying person: Il fratello è rimasto al capezzale del padre fino all'alba.^[12][13][9]
4. (Tuscan) A sandbank in a river bed, covered when the river floods.^[15][16][11]
5. (obsolete) The neckline or collar of a woman's dress.^[12][17][15]

Related words

• capo
• capezza
• capezzolo
• cavezza
• capezzagna
• Latin capitium
• Spanish cabezal

Usage notes

Al capezzale is used with verbs of coming and staying: correre, stare, essere al capezzale di qualcuno.^[9][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
4. ^ 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. 11, 85
5. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 733
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 c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana