chiappa

Forms

chiappa f (plural chiappe)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain, and the dictionaries weigh several proposals.^[2][3][4] The explanation most of them give is that it is inherited from Latin capula (“small bowl, cup”), named for the rounded shape.^[5][4][6][1] The DEI compares Calabrian and Neapolitan forms and Emilian forms, Piedmontese ciapa in Piedmont and Occitan esclapo in Provence.^[5] The Latin word is a diminutive of capis (“bowl”).^[7] Nocentini also starts from the Latin diminutive, but as a derivative of capiō (“to take”), with the sense “handhold, projection” and then “buttock”.^[8]

Others take it as a back-formation from chiappare (“to catch”): so Migliorini and Duro, Devoto, Prati and Battaglia, though DELI objects that this does not explain the change of meaning.^[2] The GDLI and Treccani derive it from the noun meaning “capture”, itself from that verb.^[9][10]

Alessio connected it with Medieval Latin clappa (“stone slab”), which in Liguria also meant the stone bench of the fish market.^[2] The clapa was also the stone on which insolvent debtors were made to sit in public, hence Genoese da do cü in ciapa (“to go bankrupt”), and Alessio thought the word for the buttock was born as a joke from that phrase.^[2][11] DELI's own proposal is that it is a figurative use of the older word for a jutting rock, which goes back to a pre-Indo-European base.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Luigi Pulci's Morgante, before 1484, where a character, “to try their patience, spread out his buttocks (saving your reverence)” (le chiappe squadernò (con reverenzia)).^[2][9][12] Zingarelli dates it to 1481.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word was low and comic and was used mostly in the plural;^[12][9] Tommaseo called it a vulgar word.^[12][9] Aretino and Bracciolini used it in the 16th and 17th centuries, and it is still a colloquial, slightly vulgar word for the buttock.^{[9][3][11][1]} The phrase muovere le chiappe is recorded by GRADIT.^[3]

Timeline

• Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses chiappe in the Morgante.^[2][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (colloquial, vulgar, mostly in the plural) A buttock, one of the two cheeks of the bottom (natica).^{[3][11][4][1]}

Word family

• chiappone
• chiapputo
• inchiappettare

Related words

• Latin capula

Usage notes

Two other words are spelled chiappa.^[3][4] An obsolete chiappa “projecting rock, jutting stone” (before 1313, Dante) is pre-Roman;^{[3][13][4][14]} Dante has montar di chiappa in chiappa “climb from crag to crag” in Inferno XXIV.^{[3][13][4][14]} The DEI traces it to a Mediterranean base meaning “stone”, comparing Friulian clap “stone” and Medieval Latin clapa (“stone slab”) (14th century, Piacenza).^[5] The LEI lists it under Latin cap(p)ulāre “to cut”, with Old Genoese iapa “stone” (1311) and many Ligurian and Sicilian forms for a flat stone or rock.^[15]

A regional Tuscan chiappa “catch, capture”, especially a hunter's good bag of birds, is derived from chiappare;^{[3][16][11][9]} GRADIT dates it before 1837, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti to 1808.^{[3][16][11][9]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 892
6. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 11, 212
16. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier