capraio

Forms

capraio m (plural caprai, feminine capraia)^[1] The form capraro is archaic and central Italian.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin caprārius (“goatherd”), a word of Varro and Columella,^[5] formed from caper (“he-goat”) with the suffix -ārius.^[6][1] The Italian dictionaries relate it to capra.^[7][3][8] The suffix -aio is the Tuscan outcome of the Latin suffix, while capraro is the form of the other central dialects.^[9][3]

In one layer of Vulgar Latin the suffix was reduced, and this survives in Romanian căprar, Friulian ciavrâr and the Italian dialects; western Romance has the full suffix, as French chevrier, Old Occitan cabrier, Catalan cabrer, Spanish cabrero and Portuguese cabreiro.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Sannazaro, in 1504, for the herdsman who keeps goats:^[10][4] Vedemmo in una picciola acquetta appiè d’un salce sedere un solo capraio, che sonando dilettava la sua mandra (“By a little stream at the foot of a willow we saw a lone goatherd sitting, delighting his flock with his playing”).^[12]

Semantic evolution

Annibal Caro has the word around 1535, and the form caprar appears in Tasso's Aminta.^[10][12] Writers paired the goatherd with the ox-driver as the type of the rustic: Giordano Bruno set capraio e bifolco against learned doctors and priests.^[12] The Treccani dictionary gives a figurative, scornful sense, a person of coarse manners.^[13]

As an adjective meaning “of goats” the word appears in Salvini, before 1729, and the derivative caprareccia, a winter shelter for goats, is recorded from 1803.^[14]

Timeline

• 1504 – Sannazaro uses capraio.^[10][4]
• Before 1530 – DELI's and GRADIT's date for Sannazaro's use.^[15][16]
• c. 1535 – Annibal Caro uses the word.^[10]
• Before 1729 – Salvini uses it as an adjective, “of goats”.^[14]
• 1803 – Caprareccia “goat shed” is recorded.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A goatherd: a herdsman who keeps and grazes goats.^{[16][2][3][13]}
2. (figurative, derogatory) A person of coarse, uncouth manners.^[13]

Related words

• capra
• capro
• caprareccia
• Latin caprarius
• French chevrier

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 744
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 80
10. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 11, 632
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ 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, 726
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 11, 636
15. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET