carogna

Forms

carogna f (plural carogne)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *carōnia, a derivative of Latin carō (“flesh, meat”).^[2][3][4][1] Nocentini explains it as the feminine of a pejorative adjective used as a noun, built on a variant of the Latin noun with a stem in ⟨-ōn-⟩, the stem also seen in the diminutive caruncula (“small piece of flesh”); other derivatives of the word for “meat” reach the sense “carrion” through “bad, spoiled meat”.^[3] Devoto saw it as a collective and pejorative formation, “a mass of flesh”.^[5] Devoto–Oli calls the derivation unclear, and Wiktionary the origin of the suffix.^[6][1]

The same word is French charogne (Old French charoigne about 1170) and Old Occitan caronha, and Surselvan carugna;^[7][3] Romanian and Ibero-Romance do not have it.^[7][3] Spanish carroña and Catalan carronya are borrowed from Italian.^[3][1]

Salvioni started from Vulgar Latin *cariōnia, from Latin caries (“decay”);^[3][2] Alessio from a Greek loan Latin charōnea, the caves full of foul vapours at the entrance of the underworld, named after Charon.^[3][2] Pfister, in the LEI, rejects both and puts the word under a pre-Latin root kar- or kr- “decrepit, decaying”, which he also sees in Ancient Greek κήρ (kḗr, “death, goddess of death”) and in Latin caries.^[7][3] Nocentini finds this unlikely: the Greek comparison is weak, and the root would have to survive unrecorded from prehistory to Proto-Romance.^[3] Tommaseo had already rejected a Greek origin.^[8]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *kerō for the Latin noun, from Proto-Indo-European *k(e)rH-n- (“piece”), with Umbrian and Oscan words meaning “part”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Garzo, about 1225, with the sense “body of a dead animal, especially a decaying one”.^[2] The TLIO and the LEI place Garzo in the second half of the 13th century, and the TLIO's first record is a moralised bestiary from the Arezzo area.^[10][7] Old Italian already used it of a human corpse as well.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian forms include carongna, carognia and charongne.^[10] The TLIO also records a figurative sense, “filth, rottenness”.^[10] Boccaccio compares a man who swoops down to a vulture on a carcass: non altramenti che si gitta l'avoltoio alla carogna.^[11][8] A Tuscan proverb says Le mosche si posano sopra alle carogne, “flies settle on carrion”.^[8]

The insult for a vile, treacherous person is recorded before 1494 in Matteo Franco.^[2] Berni used the word for a worn-out horse, and Menzini for a wretched woman.^[12] The derivative carognata “vile act” is dated 1911 by Nocentini and found in Pavese in 1952.^[3][2] English thieves' cant had quarromme “human body” from the mid-16th to the mid-19th century, and German Carogne is recorded in 1838.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – Garzo uses carogna “carcass”.^[2]
• Late 13th century – The word appears in a moralised bestiary from the Arezzo area.^[10]
• Before 1494 – Matteo Franco uses it of a vile person.^[2]
• Mid-16th century – English cant quarromme “body” appears.^[13]
• 1838 – German Carogne is recorded.^[13]
• 1911 – Carognata is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The body of a dead animal, especially a rotting one; carrion, carcass: Sulla strada c'era la carogna di una volpe.^[4][6][14]
2. (derogatory) A human corpse.^[4][14][15]
3. (figurative, derogatory) A vile, treacherous person; a swine: Ha tradito l'amico, che carogna!.^[4][6][16]
4. (derogatory) An old, worn-out or starved animal, a nag.^[4][6][16]
5. (derogatory) A sickly or unpleasant-looking person.^[4][17]

Word family

• carognata
• incarognire
• scarognire
• carognaggine
• carognesco

Related words

• carne
• caruncola
• Latin caro
• French charogne

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 j k Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 82
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 11, 1375
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 243
13. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli