castigo

Forms

castigo m (plural castighi)^[1] Tuscan has the variant gastigo.^[2][3][4] Dialect forms include Ligurian castigu, Venetian castigo and Lucchese castío.^[5]

Etymology

According to Nocentini and the LEI it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *castīgum (“punishment”), a back-formation from Latin castīgō (“to correct, punish”).^[6][5] The noun is shared with other Romance languages: Old French chasti “rebuke”, Old Occitan castic, Old Spanish castigo (“punishment”) (13th century) and Old Portuguese castigo (“advice”).^[6][5] GRADIT, Wiktionary, Treccani and the GDLI treat it instead as a deverbal noun formed in Italian from castigare.^[7][1][3][8]

The Latin verb is formed from castus (“pure, chaste”), with the same ending as fatīgō.^[9] Wiktionary analyses it as an unattested noun *castis (“purity”) with the suffix -igō, from agō (“to do, make”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Domenico Cavalca's Disciplina degli spirituali (Pisa, before 1342), meaning a punishment meant to free someone from a vice or correct an error.^[10] The LEI dates the general Italian use from Machiavelli (1499),^[5] and DELI from Baldassarre Castiglione (before 1529), adding that the older records of gastigo in the Crusca dictionary, Tommaseo and Battaglia are forgeries.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th and 16th centuries the word spread through the dialects: Vicentine castige (plural, 1450), Neapolitan castigo in Masuccio (before 1475) and Sicilian castiyu (first half of the 16th century).^[5] Tommaseo also records a technical sense, any means that forces things into an order other than their natural one, such as the timber frames used to train trees into shapes.^[12]

From the idea of a punishment sent by God came castigo di Dio, a calamity, and jokingly a person who is a real nuisance.^[2][13] Castigo is also the usual word for a punishment given to children, who are put in castigo, made to stay in a corner or apart for a while.^[13] In religious language it names divine punishment.^[4]

Timeline

• 1287 – The Zingarelli dates the word to this year.^[4]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses castigo at Pisa.^[10][5]
• 1348 – Francesco da Barberino uses the word in Tuscan.^[5]
• 1450 – The Vicentine plural castige is recorded.^[5]
• 1499 – Machiavelli uses castigo.^[5]
• Before 1529 – Baldassarre Castiglione uses the word, DELI's first record.^[11][7]
• 1762 – Goldoni records Venetian castigo.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A punishment given to correct or warn someone who has done wrong: Per la bugia ha avuto un castigo severo.^{[7][2][14][4]}
2. (figurative, humorous) A very tiresome, annoying person or thing, a nuisance: Quel cane del vicino è un vero castigo.^[7][14][15]

Related words

• castigare
• casto
• Latin castīgō

Usage notes

Common phrases are mettere in castigo (to punish, especially a child), essere or stare in castigo (to be serving a punishment) and castigo di Dio, a calamity or an unbearable person.^[7][2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 12, 1267
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli