chiavica

Forms

chiavica f (plural chiaviche, diminutive chiavichétta or chiavichìna, augmentative chiavicóne m, pejorative chiavicàccia)^[1] Early forms include Old Italian chiaveche, Old Italian chiavice, Old Italian clavica and Old Italian clavike.^[2] Regional forms include Lucchese chiàvita, with dissimilation, and Umbrian chiàchena and jòchina.^[3] Sienese chioca, Chianti chiòcana and Pistoiese chiòdina go back to a contracted *clauca.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin clāvica, a Late Latin form of classical Latin cloāca (“sewer”), through the variant clovāca.^[6][7][8][1] DELI explains the change of vowel by the influence of chiudere (“to close”).^[6] The glosses also record clavāca and claveca, and the same form lies behind clāvicārius, a worker who built drains.^[9][3] In the 13th century Medieval Latin claviga is recorded at Piacenza.^[3]

Apart from these late variants, the classical word survives in the Romance languages only as a learned word, so that cloaca is a borrowed doublet.^[9][1] The popular form is shared only with Catalan claveguera, recorded in Old Catalan from the 13th century.^[9][5]

The Romans linked the Latin word to an old verb cluō (“to cleanse”), but the derivation is uncertain.^[1][10] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *klowā- and an adjective Proto-Indo-European *ḱleuH-o- (“clean”), which he compares with Ancient Greek κλύζω (klúzō, “to wash”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌿𐌸𐍂𐍃 (hlūtrs, “clean”).^[11] DEI instead suggested an Etruscan word and compared place names such as ⟨Clavenna⟩ (Chiavenna) and ⟨Clavaris⟩ (Chiavari).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI's earliest record is Old Salentine klaveka “sewer”, from the end of the 11th century, which still keeps the cluster ⟨cl⟩.^[9] The first record in Italian is in the Roman Miracole de Roma of the mid-13th century, with the sense “sewer”, the same as cloaca.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

DELI's first literary example is Donato degli Albanzani at the start of the 14th century, who writes of “stinking sewers” (puzzolenti chiaviche).^[6][12] The word was most at home in the south and in Rome: a Neapolitan chronicler quoted by the GDLI tells how the streets were dug up and tutte li chiaveche uncovered.^[12][13]

In 1602 B. Crescenzi uses it for a masonry structure that regulates the outflow of water, and in hydraulic engineering it is now a sluice in a river embankment, with gates that let drainage water out of the fields and keep floods out.^[6][14] In fish farming in lagoons, the chiavica maestra is the main sluice through which the fish come in.^[14][15]

Like fogna, the word took on figurative senses: a filthy place or a disgusting thing, and a glutton who eats and drinks without measure.^[8][13][16] In southern Italy it is also an insult for an ugly person.^[1]

Timeline

• End of the 11th century – Old Salentine klaveka “sewer” is recorded.^[9]
• 13th century – Medieval Latin claviga is recorded at Piacenza.^[3]
• Mid-13th century – Chiavica appears in the Roman Miracole de Roma.^[2][7]
• Early 14th century – Donato degli Albanzani writes of chiaviche.^[6][12]
• 1599 – The verb chiavicare, to provide with a sewer, is recorded.^[3]
• 1602 – B. Crescenzi uses chiavica for a sluice that regulates the flow of water.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sewer; a cloaca.^[8][15][13]
2. The grate or gate of a sewer.^[8][16]
3. (figurative, derogatory) A glutton, a person who eats and drinks greedily.^[8][15][16]
4. (figurative, derogatory) A thing or person that is ugly or disgusting; a place full of filth: Quel ristorante è una vera chiavica.^[8][13][1]
5. (hydraulics) A masonry sluice in a river embankment, with gates that regulate the flow of water: chiavica maestra, the main sluice of a fish lagoon.^[8][14][15]

Word family

• chiavichetta
• chiavicone

Related words

• cloaca
• fogna
• Catalan claveguera

Usage notes

Common phrases are topo delle chiaviche and ratto delle chiaviche, the sewer rat.^[8] Sabatini–Coletti calls it a southern word.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 896
4. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 275
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ 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, 1274
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ 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
16. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli