cavo

cavo¹ hollow

Etymology tree of cavo¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin cavus

Italian cavo

French cave

From the same root · cavo¹

Latin cavo ← cavus

Latin concavus ← cavus

Pronunciation

• /ˈka.vo/^[4]

Forms

cavo (feminine cava, masculine plural cavi, feminine plural cave)^[4]

Etymology

The adjective “hollow” is inherited from Latin cavus (“hollow, concave”), and the noun sense continues its neuter cavum (“hollow, hole”).^[1][3][2][4] The same word is Occitan cau and Catalan cau (“rabbit burrow”), and Logudorese cau is the pith of the elder.^[3][5][6]

Latin also had a variant covus, recorded only by grammarians such as Varro, whose vowel o reappears in Spanish cueva (“cave”), Portuguese cova (“cave”), covo (“hollow”) and Italian covone (“sheaf”).^[3][5][7] DEI explains the classical form as remade after the verb cavō (“to hollow out”).^[6] Comparison outside Latin supports the o: Ancient Greek κόοι (kóoi, “hollows”) in Hesychius and Old Irish cúa (“hollow”).^[3][8] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *kowó- and Proto-Indo-European *ḱouH-ó- (“hollow”), with Ancient Greek κοῖλος (koîlos, “hollow”) as a further cognate.^[8] He explains the Latin a by an unrounding of o before w in a syllable before the accent.^[8] DELI and Zingarelli call the Latin word of uncertain origin.^[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Bono Giamboni's Libro de' Vizi e delle Virtudi, before 1292, and his Italian version of Brunetto Latini's Tesoro says that the earth è tutta cava dentro di luogo in luogo “is all hollow inside here and there”, full of veins and caverns.^{[10][1][11][12]}

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used it of hollow objects and places, of sunken eyes, of deep valleys and of an empty ship.^[10][7] Petrarch's in loco oscuro e cavo “in a dark and hollow place” and Dante's souls whose eyes were oscura e cava “dark and sunken” (Purgatorio 23.22) show the literary adjective.^[11][9] The anatomical vena cava is recorded in 1574, and the noun “hollow, concavity” before 1537 (Vannoccio Biringuccio).^[1] Today the adjective is mainly literary or technical, while the noun names anatomical cavities.^[2][13]

The feminine noun cava “quarry” is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, and the verb cavare “to pull out” in Dante (1304–1308).^[1]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses cavo “hollow”.^[10][1]
• End of the 13th century – Cava “quarry” appears in the Novellino.^[1]
• Before 1537 – Biringuccio uses the noun for a hollow.^[1]
• 1574 – Vena cava is recorded.^[1]

Meanings

Adjective

1. hollow, empty inside; concave: una canna cava.^[2][13][14]
2. (literary) sunken, of the eyes or cheeks.^[2][13][9]
3. (anatomy) vena cava: either of the two large veins that bring blood to the right atrium of the heart.^[13][14][9]

Noun

1. A hollow, concavity: il cavo della mano.^[2][13][15]
2. (anatomy) A cavity of the body, also a pathological one: cavo orale.^[2][13][14]

Word family

• cava
• cavare
• cavità
• cavatore
• cavatura

cavo² cable

Pronunciation

• /ˈka.vo/^[4]

Forms

cavo m (plural cavi)^[4]

Etymology

The noun “cable” is borrowed from Ligurian cavo (“head, end”), or Venetian cao, the northern outcome of Latin caput (“head”) that corresponds to Tuscan capo: among sailors “the end of the rope” came to mean the rope itself.^{[1][3][2][13][14]} A naval dictionary quoted by DELI rejects a source in a shortened form of capulum (“halter, rope”) and compares nautical cima “rope”, literally “top, end”, as a similar figure.^[1] The northern word replaced Tuscan canapo “hawser”.^[1][16]

DEI leaves the question open between this explanation and Spanish cabo, from Portuguese cabo and an older *caboo from that Latin noun.^[6] Meyer-Lübke derives the Italian noun from the Iberian word, and Wiktionary follows him.^[5][4] The same Latin noun gave Old French chables (“cables”) (about 1165), French câble and Old Occitan cable.^[17][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Anonimo Genovese, a Genoese poet writing before 1311.^[10][1] In Tuscan the word is in Luigi Pulci, before 1470, as a thick rope.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In 1832 the naval writer Giuseppe Tonello noted that corda was considered improper on board: all the ship's ropes were called cavi, except the bell rope, which alone was a corda.^[1][12] The electrical sense, an insulated conductor for current or telegraph signals, is recorded in 1892, with the cavo sottomarino “submarine cable”.^[1][16] The diminutive cavetto is used for a thin electric lead (1956).^[1] Modern compounds include cavo coassiale “coaxial cable” and televisione via cavo “cable television”.^[13]

Timeline

• About 1165 – Old French chables “cables” is recorded.^[17]
• Before 1311 – The Anonimo Genovese uses cavo.^[10][1]
• Before 1470 – Luigi Pulci uses it in Tuscan.^[1][2]
• 1832 – Tonello notes that every rope on board is a cavo.^[1]
• 1892 – The electrical sense is recorded.^[1]
• 1956 – Cavetto is recorded for an electric lead.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thick, strong rope or cable of steel or fibre, for hauling, lifting or mooring: Il cavo della gru si è spezzato.^[2][13][14]
2. (electricity) An insulated conductor for electric current or telecommunications: Ho perso il cavo del caricabatterie.^[2][13][14]

Word family

• cavetto