cercine

Forms

cercine m (plural cercini)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin circinus (“pair of compasses; circle”), and the older form was cercino.^[2][3][4][1] Sabatini–Coletti derives the modern form from a spoken form close to classical circen (“circle”), and takes the older one as the continuation of the word for compasses.^[5][6] DELI, GRADIT and Zingarelli take the Latin noun from Ancient Greek κίρκινος (kírkinos), from κίρκος (kírkos, “ring”).^[2][4][7] Nocentini, the OLD and Wiktionary derive it within Latin from circus (“circle”).^[3][8][1]

The same Latin word is Friulian cèrcin, Romanian cearcăn (“halo; ring around the eyes”), French cerne (“ring around the eyes”) (from 1119), Spanish cércene (“compasses”) and Portuguese cérceo.^[9][3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Florentine statute of 1317, for a ring of cloth worn on the head to carry loads.^[11][7] Sacchetti, before 1400, wrote of someone who had put out un cercine per arme (“a head pad as his coat of arms”).^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its everyday sense for the carrier's pad, and a Tuscan proverb says chi ha da essere facchino, nasce col cercine in capo (“whoever is to be a porter is born with the pad on his head”).^[12] In 20th-century prose Moravia describes setting a suitcase on the pad on one's head.^[6]

The ring shape gave the word other senses: a glass ring round the necks of bottles (cercino, before 1537, Biringuccio), a growth of tissue covering wounds on stems and branches (before 1698, Redi), and later a padded band for children's heads, a hairstyle, the twisted wreath of heraldry and ring-shaped structures in anatomy.^{[9][2][4][13]} The derivative cercinatura, the removal of a ring of bark before felling a tree, is recorded in 1956.^[2]

Timeline

• 1317 – A Florentine statute records the word.^[11][7]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses cercine.^[2]
• Before 1537 – Biringuccio uses cercino for the ring round the neck of glass vessels.^[9]
• Before 1698 – Redi uses the botanical sense.^[2]
• 1912 – Versilian cercino “head pad” is recorded in Pea.^[9]
• 1956 – Cercinatura is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ring-shaped pad of rolled cloth placed on the head to carry loads.^{[4][14][5][7]}
2. A padded band once put round small children's heads to protect them when they fell.^[4][14][5]
3. A woman's hairstyle with the hair or braids coiled round the head; a ring-shaped headdress.^{[4][14][7][15]}
4. (heraldry) The torse, a twisted roll of cloth in the colours of the shield placed on top of the helmet.^{[4][14][5][15]}
5. The ring of glass round the mouth of bottles and demijohns.^{[4][14][5][16]}
6. (botany) A ring-shaped growth of tissue covering wounds on stems and branches; a swelling caused by poor flow of sap.^[4][7][15]
7. (anatomy) A ring-shaped ridge, such as the rim of cartilage round some joint cavities.^[4][14][13]
8. (nautical, archaic) The ralinga, the rope sewn along the edge of a sail.^[4][14][13]

Word family

• cercinatura
• accercinare
• cercinare
• cercinata
• incercinare

Related words

• cerchio
• Latin circinus
• French cerne

Usage notes

Torsello and burletto are synonyms in the heraldic sense.^[1][15] A Versilian vento cercine is a whirlwind.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
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, p. 2, 996
7. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 570
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli