cavare

Forms

cavare (first-person singular present càvo, first-person singular past historic cavài, past participle cavàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cavō (“to hollow out, to dig”), from cavus (“hollow”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb lives on in Romance except Romanian and Sardinian: Romansh chavar, Old French chever, Old Occitan cavar, Catalan cavar, Spanish cavar and Portuguese cavar.^[5][6][7] The modern French caver is a 16th-century loan from Italian.^[7][8]

The LEI argues that in the areas where Latin /v/ between vowels should have been lost, it was restored under the influence of prestigious cities, and that central Italian forms with /f/ for /v/ may show an Oscan substrate.^[5] Meyer-Lübke and Prati connect Old Italian cafagnare (“to dig holes for planting”) and the southern cafone with the same verb.^[6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Milanese poems of Bonvesin da la Riva, of the late 13th century, and DEI notes a 12th-century record at Padua.^[10][7] DELI dates the sense “to pull out, draw out by force” to Dante (1304–1308), who writes in the Purgatorio of terra che secca si cavi, “earth that is dug out dry”.^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

The TLIO's senses show how far “to take out” spread in Old Italian: to free from a place or a trouble, to drive out of an office, to steal, to leave out of a reckoning, to draw lots for the officials of a commune, to take off clothes, to draw a profit or a lesson, and to dig.^[10] Quarrying and mining kept the old sense: the Milione tells of a lake where pearls could be taken, but the Great Khan forbade it.^[11] DELI dates “to take off” (clothes) to Franco Sacchetti, before 1400, and DIFIT adds a 16th-century sense “to pay out”.^[2][8]

Many idioms grew from the verb: cavarsela, to get out of a danger or to manage, cavare sangue da una rapa, to ask the impossible, and non cavare un ragno dal buco, to achieve nothing.^[12][13][14]

Timeline

• 12th century – A record at Padua.^[7]
• Late 13th century – Bonvesin da la Riva uses cavare.^[10]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “to draw out”.^[2][4]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses it for taking off clothes.^[2]
• 16th century – French borrows caver.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To take out, extract, pull out: Il dentista gli ha cavato un dente.^[4][12][1]
2. (transitive) To take off a garment: cavarsi il cappotto.^[4][12][1]
3. (transitive) To get, obtain, draw from something: Da quel terreno non si cava niente.^[4][12][1]
4. (transitive) To dig, to quarry stone or minerals.^[4][11]
5. (figurative) To rid someone of a vice or fault.^[4]
6. cavarsi: to satisfy a wish or need, as in cavarsi la voglia.^[12]
7. cavarsela: to get out of a difficulty; to manage, cope: Con il francese me la cavo.^[12][14][1]

Word family

• cavatappi
• cavata
• cavatore
• cavatura
• cavamento
• ricavare
• scavare

Related words

• cava
• cavo
• caverna
• cavazione
• Latin cavus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 13, 487
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 827
8. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 260
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli