Etymologically
Log in

cicatrice

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Italian word cicatrice

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1318–1320 Francesco da Barberino, Reggimento More words from the 14th century
Borrowed from
Latin cicatrix
Ultimate origin
Latin cicātrīx
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cicātrīx
Italian cicatrice
Romanian cicatrice

Pronunciation

  • /t͡ʃi.kaˈtri.t͡ʃe/[1]

Forms

cicatrice f (plural cicatrici)[1] Old forms include Tuscan ciecatricie (1318–1320) and Trevisan cycatriçe (about 1335).[2][3] Dialects have forms with z- or s-, such as Veronese zecatrìce, Ferrarese zacatrìz and Faentine zicatriz.[3]

Etymology

It is a learned word: it is borrowed from Latin cicātrīx (“scar”).[4][5][6][3][1] The late Latin diminutive cicātrīcula gave cicatricola.[4][5]

The Latin word, recorded from Plautus on, has no known etymology.[7][8][5] Wiktionary allows for a substrate word.[1] Battisti and Alessio take it to presuppose a verb *cicāre of unclear origin.[9] Devoto made it a feminine agent noun of a verb meaning “to tickle”, but found no reliable connections.[10]

It is learned in the other Romance languages too: French cicatrice (1314), Catalan cicatriu, Spanish cicatriz (1490) and Portuguese cicatriz.[3][5] The verb cicatrizzare was formed in the medical Medieval Latin of the 12th century and reached Florentine in the 16th.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Francesco da Barberino's Reggimento (1318–1320), as ciecatricie, with the sense of a scar left on the skin by a healed wound.[2][11][4] The TLIO's first sense also covers marks left by the pustules of some diseases and the scab of a wound.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the word for the wounds of Christ, the stigmata, and figuratively.[2] The figurative sense of a painful memory is recorded before 1492 in Lorenzo de' Medici.[4] The word was used of plants as well, for the mark left on a trunk, and Tommaseo records far cicatrice “to heal over”.[12][13]

The medical terms followed: cicatrizzazione is already in a translation of Guglielmo da Piacenza about 1300, cicatrizzare is recorded in 1583, and cicatriziale in 1942.[4] Cicatricola was used from before 1704 for the germ spot on an egg yolk.[4]

Timeline

  • 1318–1320 – Francesco da Barberino writes ciecatricie.[2]
  • c. 1335 – Nicolò de' Rossi of Treviso writes cycatriçe.[3]
  • 1338 – A Florentine translation of Valerius Maximus has cicatrice.[3]
  • Before 1492 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses it for a painful memory.[4]
  • 1583 – Leonardo Fioravanti uses cicatrizzare.[4]
  • 1942 – Cicatriziale is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. scar: the mark left on the skin by a healed wound: una cicatrice sul mento.[6][14][15]
  2. (medicine) The fibrous tissue that replaces tissue damaged by injury or disease; also in plants.[6][16][17]
  3. (figurative) A lasting trace left in the mind by a painful experience.[6][14][16]

Word family

  • cicatrizzazione
  • cicatriziale
  • cicatrizzare
  • cicatricola
  • Latin cicatrix
  • French cicatrice

Usage notes

Cicatrice ornamentale is ornamental scarring, a kind of tattoo made by cutting the skin.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 88
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 925
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ 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
  15. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  16. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  18. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Cicatrice.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/cicatrice. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·