cica

Forms

cica f (plural ciche)^[1] Old Italian also wrote cicha and gica.^[2] Wiktionary gives cicca as a variant.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cicca, the plural of the neuter noun for the thin membrane between the seeds of the pomegranate and, figuratively, a worthless trifle, from which came the sense “nothing”.^[3][4][5][1] The Latin word is used of something proverbially worthless.^[6] Wiktionary and the GDLI derive it from Ancient Greek κίκκος (kíkkos), probably imitative.^[1][7] Devoto–Oli explain the single ⟨c⟩ by the northern simplification of double consonants, and Nocentini finds no sure comparisons.^[4][8][3] Treccani, Gabrielli and GRADIT see an influence of mica “crumb”.^[9][10][5]

Others start from a nursery word: Battisti and Alessio, followed by the TLIO, from a children's stem *cicc- crossed with that word, and Meyer-Lübke from a nursery *cik (“small”), the source of Spanish chico and Catalan xic.^[11][2][12] Zingarelli and Sabatini–Coletti accordingly separate the nursery word for a trifle from the botanical term, which they take from Latin.^[13][14] GRADIT also lists the “trifle” sense separately as of uncertain origin, perhaps expressive or from the pomegranate word.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Rustico Filippi, in Florence in the second half of the 13th century, with the sense “a thing of nothing, the smallest part of something”.^[2][5] The GDLI quotes Castra Fiorentino: di me non puoi aver pur una cica, you can't get even a scrap from me.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In negative phrases the noun became an adverb meaning “nothing, not at all”: the Pataffio has cica di metal già non trovò, and Grazzini's singers della zolfa non intendon cica (understand nothing of solfeggio).^[7][15] Redi refused to thank a friend né poco, né punto, né cica, and Magalotti wrote of a man left senza cica di memoria.^[7][9]

The botanical sense of the membrane in the pomegranate is recorded only from the 19th century, in Carena, and dated 1869 by Zingarelli and Sabatini–Coletti.^[7][13][14] The adverb now survives in central Italian dialects, as in Umbrian cica “nothing”.^[13][16]

Timeline

• 1250–1300 – Rustico Filippi uses cica “trifle”.^[2]
• 1830 – The homonym cica for the cycad is first recorded.^[5]
• 1869 – Cica is recorded for the membrane in the pomegranate.^[13][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) The thin yellowish membrane that separates the seeds of the pomegranate.^{[5][13][4][10]}
2. (archaic, regional) A trifle, the smallest bit of something, especially in negative phrases: non me ne resta una cica.^[5][4][9]

Adverb

1. (archaic, regional) In negative phrases, nothing, not at all: di latino non capisce cica.^{[5][4][13][1]}

Related words

• cicca
• mica
• Latin ciccum

Usage notes

A separate cica (also cicade), first recorded in 1830, is the botanical name of the cycads, from the New Latin Cycas, an erroneous form of Latin cynas, a kind of palm.^[5][9] Battisti and Alessio trace the error to Ermolao Barbaro's reading of Pliny (1492), taken up by Linnaeus in 1737;^[11][9] Treccani derives Cycas from a misreading of the Greek accusative koïkas, “doum palms”.^[11][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 118
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 924
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 285