cespo

Forms

cespo m (plural cespi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cēspus, a form of Latin caespes (“sod, turf”) moved into another declension.^[2][3][4][5] The LEI compares the change of caput (“head”) to *capus.^[5] The GDLI notes that Columella's adjective caespōsus already presupposes the secondary form.^[6] Treccani and Gabrielli also see the influence of cesto “tuft”.^[7][8]

The Latin oblique stem survives in Spanish césped and Portuguese céspede, and with a voiced initial in Catalan gespa (“high-mountain grass”).^[5][9] Its learned counterpart in Italian is cespite.^[2][10]

The origin of caespes is unknown.^[11][1] Its first meaning may have been “a cut-off piece”, and a link with caedō (“to cut”) has been suggested.^[11][1][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Lombard Disputatio roxe et viole of the 13th century, with the sense of leaves and grasses growing from a single root.^[13] In Tuscan the word is first found in Petrarch, who died in 1374: col suo candido seno un verde cespo “a green tuft with her white breast”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Old Abruzzese used the feminine plural cespe for bunches of grapes around 1350, and the TLIO records a similar sense.^[5][13] A head of cabbage or lettuce is cespo from the third quarter of the 15th century, the branching skeleton of corals in Giambattista Marino in 1623, and far cespo meant “to grow, spread” in the 16th century.^[5] Gabriele D'Annunzio (1894) and Eugenio Montale (1956) use the word figuratively for a mixed cluster of different things.^[5]

The derivative cespuglio “bush” is older in the record than cespo itself in Tuscan: Dante uses it before 1321, and cespuglioso “bushy” follows in the 14th century.^[2] Tommaseo thought a cespo should be pictured as smaller and grassier than a cespuglio.^[14]

Timeline

• 1200s – The Lombard Disputatio roxe et viole has the word.^[13]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the derivative cespuglio.^[2]
• About 1350 – Old Abruzzese cespe means bunches of grapes.^[5]
• Before 1374 – Petrarch uses cespo.^[2]
• Third quarter of the 1400s – Cespo names a head of cabbage or lettuce.^[5]
• 1623 – Giambattista Marino uses cespi for the branches of coral.^[5]
• 1894 – Gabriele D'Annunzio uses the word figuratively.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tuft or clump of leaves, stems or flowers growing from the same root: un cespo di radicchio.^{[4][15][16][17][1]}
2. (ellipsis) A head of lettuce.^[1]

Word family

• cespuglio
• cespuglioso
• incespare

Related words

• cespite
• incespicare
• Latin caespes
• Spanish césped

Usage notes

Sabatini–Coletti gives cesto as a synonym.^[16] Tommaseo noted that one hides in a cespuglio, not in a cespo.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 693
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 270
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli