cenno

Forms

cenno m (plural cenni)^[1] Old Italian forms include cegno, cengno and cinno.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin cinnus (“wink, sign with the eye”), a Late Latin word of uncertain origin.^[3][4][5][1] The Latin word is known from Fulgentius, who glosses “to wink” with the phrase cinnum facere, and otherwise from glosses.^[6][1] The Oxford Latin Dictionary takes it for a kind of grimace, of unknown origin.^[7] Nocentini finds no comparison for it, and Devoto thought it probably connected with Latin cincinnus (“curl of hair”).^[4][8]

Diez had derived the Italian word from that Latin noun, a derivation which Körting rejected on grounds of sound and sense.^[9] Körting preferred d'Ovidio's view that it is a back-formation from accennare, itself from Latin concinnō (“to arrange”).^[9] The word has relatives in the north: Meyer-Lübke lists Ligurian cegno in Old Genoese, blended with Latin signum (“sign”), and Engadine and Friulian verbs meaning “to wink”.^[10] Körting also compared Old Occitan cennar “to beckon” and Old French cener.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto, written before 1274.^[2] DELI dates the word to Iacopone da Todi (before 1306), where it is a sign made with the eyes, the hand or the head to make something understood, point it out or give an order.^[3] Iacopone has a man casting looks and cenni at a beautiful woman in company.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From the gesture the word widened to any wordless signal and to an order given with one.^[2][11] Dante uses it for an omen or warning (before 1321), and also for the signals of war: con tamburi e con cenni di castella (“with drums and signals from castles”).^[3][12] Petrarch writes of being bound con parole e con cenni (“with words and signs”).^[6]

A cenno became also a brief or passing mention, and in 1585 Giovanni Maria Cecchi uses it for a summary explanation, the sense of cenni di storia, an outline of history.^[3][11] In Tuscany it is the ringing of the smallest bell shortly before Mass, and in southern Tuscany the last stroke announcing the service.^[11][13]

Timeline

• Before 1274 – Brunetto Latini uses cenno in the Tesoretto.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses the word for a gesture.^[3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a sign or warning.^[3]
• 1585 – Giovanni Maria Cecchi uses it for a summary explanation.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sign or gesture made with the head, the eyes or the hand to tell or ask something without words: a nod, a wave: un cenno del capo.^{[5][14][15][1]}
2. An order given with a gesture: pronti al suo cenno.^[11][16]
3. A brief account or mention: cenni sulla vita dell'autore.^[5][14][11]
4. (figurative) A sign or hint of something: i primi cenni di malattia.^[5][14]
5. (literary) A stroke of a bell, in Tuscany the ringing of the smallest bell before Mass.^[5][11]
6. (obsolete) A signal made in war with fires, smoke or shots.^[5][14]

Word family

• accennare
• accenno
• cennare
• cennino

Related words

• Late Latin cinnus

Usage notes

Fare cenno means to make a sign, to nod or wave, and also to mention something: non ne fece cenno.^[12][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Marcato, Carla (1998), I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Torino: UTET
14. ^ 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
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli