cassetta

Forms

cassetta f (plural cassette, diminutive cassettìna, pejorative cassettàccia)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian casetta, Old Italian chassetta, Old Italian cassecta and Old Italian casseta.^[2] Old Paduan had chaseta (1379) and Old Genoese cassete (14th century).^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian cassa + -etta, the diminutive of the word for “box, chest”.^[4][5][1][6] The form Medieval Latin cassetta is recorded at Rome in 1295.^[4]

The noun cassa is inherited: it continues Latin capsa (“box, case”).^[4][5][1] DELI calls the origin of the Latin noun uncertain, while Nocentini derives it from capiō (“to hold, contain”).^[4][5] The Latin word gave French châsse (“reliquary”) and Occitan caissa, from which French caisse was taken.^[5][3] Forms such as Spanish caja and Portuguese caixa have been explained from a variant Vulgar Latin *capsea, but Corominas, followed by the LEI, sees the Occitan form as a regular development.^[3][5]

The sense “cassette” was described in 1972 as a word used mostly in compounds such as musicassetta and videocassetta, for the case that protects a film or tape and lets it wind and rewind.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Sienese poet Ruggieri Apugliese, in the mid-13th century, for a small box or chest.^[2][4] Old Italian also used it for a box for documents or cash, a reliquary, a honeycomb and a stack of firewood.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Giovanni Villani tells of a nurse who ran back into a burning palace for the money she had left in una sua cassetta, and Boccaccio's Decameron has Landolfo Ruffolo saved at sea on una cassetta di gioie (“a chest of jewels”).^[7][8] Cennino Cennini kept his colours in a well-covered box.^[7]

From the money box came the sense “takings”, recorded from 1585 (Tommaso Garzoni).^[4] In theatre and cinema slang lavorare per la cassetta means caring only for the box office, and a film di cassetta is made to sell.^[9][6] Before 1742 Giovan Battista Fagiuoli used cassetta for the coachman's raised seat on a carriage.^[4] A Tuscan proverb, il troppo bene sfonda le cassette, says that too much even of a good thing does harm.^[8]

The 20th century added the audio and video cassette and what is recorded on it.^[4][9][7]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – Ruggieri Apugliese uses cassetta for a small box.^[2]
• 1295 – Medieval Latin cassetta is recorded at Rome.^[4]
• About 1400 – Cennino Cennini uses it for a box to keep colours in.^[3][7]
• 1585 – Tommaso Garzoni uses it for takings.^[4]
• Before 1742 – Giovan Battista Fagiuoli uses it for the coachman's seat.^[4]
• 1972 – The sense “cassette” is described in Lingua nostra.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small box or crate, with or without a lid: cassetta degli attrezzi (toolbox), cassetta delle lettere (letterbox), cassetta di sicurezza (safe-deposit box).^{[9][6][10][1]}
2. The amount of goods a small crate holds: una cassetta di mele.^[9][11]
3. A protective casing for electrical, plumbing or telephone installations.^[9][12][13]
4. A tray under the hopper of a mill that lets the grain fall onto the millstone a little at a time.^[9][10][13]
5. An audio or video cassette; also what is recorded on it.^[9][12][1]
6. The till drawer of a shop counter or ticket office; by extension, the takings: di cassetta, commercially successful, and fare cassetta, to take in a lot of money.^[9][6][13]
7. The raised seat of the coachman on a carriage: salire a cassetta.^[9][11][13]
8. (theatre) Each of the guides used to raise scenery from below the stage.^[9]
9. (sports) In the pole vault, the box in which the athlete plants the pole.^[11]

Word family

• musicassetta
• videocassetta
• cassettaio
• cassettina
• cassettista
• incassettare

Related words

• cassa
• cassettiera
• cassetto
• Latin capsa

Usage notes

In banking a titolo di cassetta is a widely traded, stable share bought as a long-term investment.^[6][10] Pane in cassetta or pane a cassetta is a square loaf baked in a tin, used for toast and sandwiches.^[6][10][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 11, 696
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f 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 Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli