capriola

Forms

capriola f (plural capriole)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3][4] DELI agrees with DEI that the leap is the doe's name put to a new use: the name of the doe is formed from Italian capriolo (“roe deer”) as its feminine, and the jump was named through phrases meaning “to leap like a doe”.^[2][5][6] Nocentini also derives it from the word for the roe deer, but calls the motive controversial.^[5]

Migliorini and Duro saw it as akin to capra (“goat”), either directly, “a goat's leap”, or through the bending of the body in the jump, by way of Old Italian and dialect capriolo (“vine tendril”), curved like a goat's horn.^[2][5][7] Devoto took it for a blend of Vulgar Latin *capus (“head”) (compare caporale) with the feminine of Latin capreolus, and Prati also started from a word for “head”.^[8][2][9] The Academy's dictionary made it a back-formation from capriolare, but DELI notes that this verb appears only in the 18th century, two centuries after the noun.^[2]

The Latin noun, meaning both “roe deer” and “vine tendril”, is formed on caprea (“roe deer”) with the diminutive suffix -olus, and its feminine Late Latin capreola was already Latin.^[10][1][11] French borrowed the Italian word as French cabriole, whence cabrioler “to caper” and cabriolet.^[5][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Pietro Aretino in 1536, for a dancer's leap in which the feet change position in the air.^[2][3][13]

Semantic evolution

In 1585 Tommaso Garzoni used the word for a leap of a trained horse with the forelegs bent and the hind legs kicked out behind.^[2] The children's somersault, with hands or head on the ground, is first recorded in Francesco Redi (before 1698), who describes jumping out of bed con capriole così snelle, “with such nimble capers”.^[2][14] Collodi's puppet, as soon as he has feet, starts making mille sgambetti e mille capriole.^[14] Older and literary forms are capriuola and cavriola.^[6][15]

Figuratively, fare la capriola came to mean falling from high office or suddenly changing one's political views, and fare le capriole doing everything possible to obtain something.^[7][6] The word passed into French as cabriole (about 1550, horse riding 1564, dance 1611), into German as Kapriole (1570) and into English as capriole (1594), perhaps through French.^[13]

Timeline

• 1536 – Pietro Aretino uses capriola for a dancer's leap.^[2]
• About 1550 – French cabriole is first recorded.^[13]
• 1570 – German Capreola is recorded in horse riding.^[13]
• 1585 – Tommaso Garzoni uses it for a horse's leap.^[2]
• 1594 – English capriole is first recorded.^[13]
• Before 1698 – Francesco Redi uses it for a somersault.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A somersault, a forward or backward roll with hands and head towards the ground: I bambini facevano le capriole sull'erba.^[3][16][4]
2. A similar roll made in the water.^[3][17]
3. (by extension) A leap or caper;^[3][16][6] fare capriole per la gioia: to jump for joy.^[3][16][6]
4. (jocular) A tumble, a fall; figuratively, fare una capriola: to suffer a reversal of fortune, or to change one's opinions suddenly.^[3][6][7]
5. (ballet) A jump in which the dancer quickly changes the position of the legs in the air.^[3][16][4]
6. (horse riding) A capriole, a high-school leap in which the horse leaves the ground with all four feet and kicks out with the hind legs.^[3][16][6]

Word family

• capriolare

Related words

• capriolo
• capra
• Latin capreolus
• French cabriole

Usage notes

Capriola is also the female of the capriolo, the roe deer, from Late Latin capreola; this word is recorded from 1303 in Siena, and Boccaccio wrote cavriuola.^{[17][1][18][14]} DELI and DEI take the leap to be the same word put to a new use.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 235
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 11, 647
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
15. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
16. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
17. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
18. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it