carnale

Forms

carnale m or f by sense (plural carnali)^[1] Old Italian forms include carnal, charnale and the plural carnagli.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin carnālis (“of the flesh”), formed on Latin carō (“flesh”).^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The adjective appears in Tertullian, opposed to spīritālis (“spiritual”).^[7][8] Devoto and the DEI take it as a church calque of Ancient Greek σάρκινος (sárkinos, “of flesh”).^[9][8]

Prati says it entered Italian by the literary route,^[10] while Wiktionary has it inherited.^[1] The LEI notes that it continues in all the Romance languages except Romanian, and that phrases with homō, pater and frāter already existed in Christian Latin: French charnel, Occitan carnal, Catalan carnal, Spanish carnal and Portuguese carnal.^[7][11] Dalmatian karnual meant “wether”.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a lauda of the Sienese Ruggieri Apugliese, from the middle of the 13th century, with the sense “of the body”, opposed to the spirit.^[2][12] Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, has both “of the body, of matter” and “lustful, sensual”, and Cecco Angiolieri, before 1313, “closely related by blood”.^[13]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word covered the bodily and worldly, the desires of the flesh and the man given to them, and, as a noun, a relative;^[2] cugino, fratello or padre carnale was a blood relative, and an amico carnale an intimate friend.^[2] Dante places in the second circle i peccator carnali, / che la ragion sommettono al talento (“the carnal sinners, who subject reason to desire”).^[14] From kinship the word came to mean “affectionate”: Boccaccio calls a mother carnalissima de' figliuoli, very fond of her children.^[14][11]

The sense of affection is now archaic, and “blood-related” survives in fratelli carnali and cugini carnali.^[4][15] The sexual sense is the main one today, in legal phrases such as violenza carnale and congiunzione carnale.^[3][15] In Roman carnale has meant “good-hearted”, and in Tarantino a carcass.^[8]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – Ruggieri Apugliese uses carnale.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for “of the body” and “lustful”.^[13]
• Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses it for “related by blood”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the body and the senses, as opposed to the spirit.^[3][4][5]
2. sexual: desideri carnali;^[3][4][15] violenza carnale, rape.^[3][4][15]
3. Of the same blood: fratelli carnali, full brothers;^[3][4][15] cugini carnali, first cousins.^[3][4][15]
4. (literary) Worldly, material.^[3][4][5]
5. (rare, literary) Of flesh; flesh-coloured.^[4][15]
6. (archaic) Intimate, close; affectionate.^[3][4][15]

Word family

• carnalità
• carnalmente

Related words

• carne
• French charnel

Usage notes

A minor homograph, carnale “tackle of a galley”, came through French from Occitan carnal, from Latin cardinālis.^[8][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 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 d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 12, 212
8. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 773
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 82
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 242
11. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
13. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b 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 g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 778