chiasso

Forms

chiasso m (plural chiassi)^[1] An older spelling is Old Italian chiaso.^[2] Dialect forms include Corsican chjassu and northern ciasso and ciass.^[3][4]

Etymology

The origin is not fully clear, partly because the relation between its three senses, “alley”, “brothel” and “noise”, is itself unclear.^[5] DELI treats them as one word and sees the meanings develop in the order in which they are recorded: from “alley” to “brothel”, since brothels stood in such alleys, and then to “noise”, as with bordello and casino.^[5][6] For the source it accepts the only proposal made so far: the word is inherited from Latin classis (“division of the people; class, group”), which would have passed from a division of the citizens to a division of the town, a quarter, and then a street.^[5][6] Nocentini follows this view, with a change of gender.^[6] The LEI agrees for “alley”, noting that the word changed its declension, and also has a sense “drainage ditch”.^[3] Medieval Latin classus is recorded at Lucca in 769.^[5][7][3] Logudorese Sardinian giassu (“quarter, district”) is compared.^[8]

GRADIT instead splits the spelling in two: the word for “noise”, of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Latin *classum formed from Late Latin conclassō (“to call together; shout together”), and the word for “alley, brothel”, perhaps from classis.^[7] The DEI, Devoto–Oli, Treccani and the Zingarelli also split it, and the LEI treats “noise” in a separate article on *classum.^{[9][10][11][12][4]} Meyer-Lübke took this form as a back-formation from conclassō, and Diez and Wartburg from Latin classicum (“trumpet signal”), comparing Old French glas “great din” and Old Occitan clas “sound of bells”.^[4] Devoto took it from classicum, the signal for assembly, with the sense moving to “crowd” and then to “confusion, noise”.^[13][10] The DEI doubts this, because glas rather requires classicum and the Italian sense is recorded late, so that a derivation from the word for “alley, brothel” is likely.^[9][5] Prati, who keeps one word, calls a derivation from classis impossible and the origin unknown.^[14]

Latin classis may go back to Proto-Italic *klāssis (“call-out”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call”), following the ancient link with calō (“to call out”).^[15][1] De Vaan calls this a paper reconstruction.^[15][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin in classo appears in a Lucca document of 769, and kiasso at Florence in 1153.^[3][5] The first Italian record is in a Florentine document of 1273, and the TLIO's in a Pistoia document of 1285, in the sense of a street, often short and narrow, in town or country.^[5][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “brothel” is recorded in Luigi Pulci (before 1484), and the diminutive chiassolino named a disreputable alley in 1582.^[5][3] Chiassata meant a noisy crowd in Burchiello (before 1449).^[5] The sense “noise, din” appears in Filippo Sassetti in 1572, first of children's noisy games,^[5][4] and far chiasso in the 18th century.^[9] Other senses followed, such as “joke” (per chiasso, in fun) and “rebuke” (before 1629).^[4][12]

Of the derivatives, chiassone, a noisy person, is recorded in 1840 and chiassoso “noisy” in 1847, also “showy, loud” (of colours or forms) from 1865.^[5] The alley sense remains regional, chiefly Tuscan.^[7][16]

Timeline

• 769 – Medieval Latin classus is recorded at Lucca.^[5][3]
• 1273 – Chiasso “alley” appears in a Florentine document.^[5][3]
• 1285 – A Pistoia document has the word.^[2][6]
• Before 1449 – Burchiello uses chiassata for a noisy crowd.^[5]
• Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses chiasso for a brothel.^[5]
• 1572 – Filippo Sassetti uses the word for noise.^[5][7]
• 1840 – Chiassone is recorded in Tommaseo.^[5]
• 1847 – Chiassoso “noisy” is first recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. din, noise, especially of people's voices: I ragazzi giocavano in cortile facendo un gran chiasso.^[7][10][16]
2. An exaggerated reaction, a fuss.^[7][10] Also a stir, a great deal of public attention.^[7][10][12]
3. A noisy, violent quarrel, a scene.^[7][10]
4. (dated) A joke, jest: per chiasso, in fun.^[7][10][12]
5. (regional, Tuscany) A narrow, dark alley or courtyard.^[7][16][11]
6. (archaic) A brothel.^[7][10][16]

Word family

• chiassata
• chiassone
• chiassoso
• chiassosità
• chiassuolo
• chiassare

Related words

• classe
• Latin classis

Usage notes

The Swiss town of Chiasso has a separate origin, from a Latin Clasio.^[1] Zaccaria derived the “alley” sense from Old High German gazza “street”.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 1128
4. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 1146
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 895
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 894
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 91
14. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 275
15. ^ 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
16. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves