cerchiare

Forms

cerchiare (first-person singular present cérchio, first-person singular past historic cerchiài, past participle cerchiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin circulāre (“to arrange in a circle; to surround”), through a Vulgar Latin *circlāre.^[1][2][3][4] The Late Latin active verb stands beside classical circulor (“to gather in a circle”), and both are formed from circulus (“circle, ring”).^[4][5][2] GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Treccani instead derive it within Italian, from Italian cerchio + -are.^[6][7][8] Sabatini–Coletti calls it the popular word beside the learned circolare, its doublet.^[5][1]

The Latin verb lives on in Friulian cerclâ, French cercler, Old Occitan cerclar and Catalan cerclar, all meaning “to hoop”.^[4][9] Spanish cerchar means to plant a vine shoot, properly “to surround with earth”.^[9]

circulus is a diminutive of circus (“ring, circle”), which is probably a loan from Ancient Greek κρίκος (kríkos, “ring”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in the TLIO is Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto, written before 1274.^[11] DELI, dating Latini before 1294, gives the sense “to gird, surround”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the verb for setting things in a circle, and for going round: Chi è costui che 'l nostro monte cerchia…? (“Who is this who circles our mountain?”). He also uses it intransitively for turning or revolving.^[4][2][5] Old Italian used it for the sea or a river surrounding an island or a town, for walls ringing a city, and for besieging.^[11] Villani writes that in pochi dì la terra fu cerchiata d'assedio (“in a few days the town was ringed by a siege”).^[11][13]

The craft sense, binding barrels and other vessels with hoops, appears in the Italian translation of Crescenzi around 1350, and a Florentine account book of 1359–1363 records hooping a barrel.^[12][4] Modern uses include drawing a circle round a word or number, and in surgery performing a cerclage.^[6][14] As a pronominal verb, cerchiarsi is said of eyes that become ringed with dark circles.^[6][14][8]

Timeline

• Before 1274 – Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto has the first record.^[11]
• c. 1319 – Dante's Commedia uses the verb for setting things in a circle.^[4]
• c. 1350 – The Italian Crescenzi uses it for hooping a vessel.^[12]
• 1359–1363 – A Florentine account book records hooping a barrel.^[4]
• 1378 – Veronese cergliar appears in a statute of the saddlers' guild.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To hoop: to bind with one or more hoops, as a barrel or a wooden wheel: Il bottaio ha cerchiato due tini nuovi.^[6][7][2]
2. (transitive) To circle a word, number or figure, drawing a ring round it: Ho cerchiato a matita le date da ricordare.^[6][2][14]
3. (transitive) To surround, encircle: Hanno cerchiato l'orto con una rete.^[6][7][2]
4. (transitive) To besiege, to surround with troops (accerchiare).^[6][8]
5. (transitive, surgery) To perform a cerchiaggio on an organ.^[6]
6. (transitive, archaic) To go round: Chi è costui che 'l nostro monte cerchia…? (Dante).^[6][2]
7. (intransitive, archaic) To turn, revolve.^[6][2][1]
8. (pronominal) Of the eyes, to become ringed with dark circles.^[8][7]

Word family

• cerchiaggio
• cerchiatura
• cerchiamento
• cerchiarsi
• cerchiata
• cerchiatore
• ricerchiare

Related words

• cerchia
• cerchio
• cerchione
• circolare
• Latin circulus
• French cercler

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 992
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 587
5. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ 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
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli