cibo

Forms

cibo m (plural cibi)^[1] An old plural is Old Italian cibora.^[2] Old forms include Old Italian civo and Old Italian zibo.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cibus (“food”), a learned word.^[4][5][6][1] The Latin word survives by the popular route in the south and in the islands: Old Italian cevo in Old Neapolitan and Old Roman, Sicilian civu, Corsican civa (“entrails”), Logudorese chiu (“pith”), Spanish cebo (“fodder, bait”) and Asturian cebu (“hay”).^[6][7][8] The LEI separates these popular forms with ⟨-v-⟩ from those with ⟨-i-⟩, which may be semi-learned or influenced by the verb ⟨civare⟩.^[8] The Latin derivative cibāria (“provisions”) is the source of civaia.^[5][6]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[4][9] De Vaan points out that a root of this shape is not possible in Proto-Indo-European, and that it may be a loan from Ancient Greek κίβισις (kíbisis, “bag, pouch”) or κίβος (kíbos, “box”), as Thurneysen proposed in 1907.^[9][1] Nocentini accepts the Greek source and gives the first meaning as “provisions”.^[5] DEI suggests a Mediterranean word, and Devoto found no connections outside Italy.^[6][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the word to about 1225, in Garzo, in the sense “what serves as nourishment”.^[4] The TLIO's first record is the Bolognese Parlamenti of Guido Faba, about 1243.^[3] GRADIT dates it to about 1274 and Zingarelli to 1268.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used cibo for the food of people and animals and for nourishment in general, but also for the meal, for appetite, for spiritual nourishment and for the Eucharist.^[3] Dante writes in the Inferno that “l'ora s'appressava / che 'l cibo ne soleva essere addotto” (the hour drew near when our food used to be brought).^[2][13] Boccaccio has the maxim “Usa i cibi acciò che tu viva, e non vivere acciò che tu i cibi usi” (eat food so that you may live, and do not live to eat food).^[2] A Tuscan proverb says that it is not the hook or the rod that deceives you but the bait.^[13]

The verb cibare “to feed” is recorded before 1306, in Iacopone da Todi.^[4] Cibarie “foodstuffs” appears in the minutes of the provisional municipality of Venice in 1797, while Nocentini dates it to 1801–1803.^[4][5] Today the word is used in new compounds such as cibo di strada “street food” and cibo spazzatura “junk food”.^[14] Sicilian cibu and Sardinian tzibu are borrowings from Italian.^[1]

Timeline

• About 1225 – Garzo has the first record.^[4]
• About 1243 – Guido Faba uses cibo in his Parlamenti.^[3]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses cibare.^[4]
• Before 1322 – Old Sicilian has the popular form cívu.^[8]
• 1469 – Old Roman cevo is recorded.^[8]
• 1797 – Cibarie is recorded in Venice.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. food, what people or animals eat: Il gatto ha già finito il suo cibo, non toccare cibo, to eat nothing.^[11][14][12]
2. A dish, a prepared food: La polenta è un cibo semplice e nutriente.^[11][12][15]
3. (figurative) Spiritual or intellectual nourishment, or a person's great passion: La musica è il suo cibo.^[11][14][16]
4. (Christianity) cibo eucaristico: the Eucharist.^[11][12][17]
5. (archaic) The meal, the time of eating.^[11][14][17]

Word family

• cibare
• cibarie
• cibario

Related words

• civaia
• Latin cibus

Usage notes

Zingarelli distinguishes cibo, food in general, from colloquial mangiare and, from vivanda, food as prepared for a meal.^[12] The old plural cibora appears in early texts.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 116
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 924
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 50
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ 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
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana