capocchia

Forms

capocchia f (plural capocchie)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian capo + -occhia, with a Tuscan suffix, the feminine of -occhio, used as a diminutive.^[2][3][4][5] The noun capo is from Latin caput (“head”).^[1] Devoto sees a diminutive of the Latin word crossed with conocchia (“distaff”).^[6] Wiktionary instead traces it to Latin *capucla, the feminine of *capuclum, for *caputulum or capitulum.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from Leonardo da Vinci, before 1519, in the sense “head”.^[3] GRADIT dates its sense “head of garlic or of a turnip” to the same year,^[2] and Sabatini–Coletti dates the word to the 15th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “rounded end of a pin, match or nail” is recorded from the early 17th century in B. de' Rossi.^[3][8] Tommaseo defines the word first as the end of a club or stick that is much thicker than the shaft, and records an obsolete use for the eye of a needle and, in the poet Fagiuoli, for the head in battle.^[9] The GDLI has 20th-century writers' capocchie of garlic and the red capocchia of a match.^[8]

In familiar speech the word means the head, and a capocchia “at random” describes things done or said carelessly.^[2][5][10] Wiktionary also gives a vulgar slang sense, “nipple”.^[1] The related adjective capocchio “dull, stupid” is old or regional.^[7]

Timeline

• Before 1519 – Leonardo uses capocchia for the head.^[3]
• Early 17th century – B. de' Rossi uses it for the rounded end of something.^[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The rounded, thicker end of a pin, match, nail or similar thin object.^{[2][5][10][11]}
2. The head of garlic, a turnip or another plant.^[2][5]
3. (colloquial, humorous) The head: a capocchia, carelessly, at random: ha scritto la lettera a capocchia.^[2][10][12]
4. (vulgar, slang) A nipple.^[1]

Word family

• capocchietta
• capocchina
• capocchione
• capocchiuto
• incapocchire

Related words

• capo
• capocchio
• Latin caput

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
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, p. 2, 706
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli