Etymologically
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cieco

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈt͡ʃɛ.ko/[1]

Forms

cieco (feminine cieca, masculine plural ciechi, feminine plural cieche)[1] The variant ceco is uncommon.[2][3] The TLIO records northern forms such as Old Italian cego and Old Italian zego.[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin caecus (“blind; dark; invisible”).[6][7][8][1] The word survives in Old French cieu, since replaced by aveugle, Occitan cec, Catalan cec, Spanish ciego and Portuguese cego, but not in Romanian, which uses orb.[7][9][5]

From the 2nd century the Latin word had a rival in Latin orbus (“bereft”), which replaced it in some areas.[5] In the Middle Ages northern Italy said orbo, central Italy kept the Latin word, and the south cecato; since the northern word also reached Tuscany early (Dante has it), Jaberg considered the central Italian form a Latinism.[5]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *kaikos and Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ikos (“one-eyed”).[10][1] Its cognates are Old Irish cáech (“one-eyed”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (haihs, “one-eyed”).[10][7] Nocentini points to the same suffix in /k/ as other Latin words for bodily defects, such as mancus (“maimed”) and luscus (“one-eyed”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Garzo, about 1225, in the sense “without sight”; the TLIO's is in the Libro of Uguccione da Lodi (Cremona, early 13th century).[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The figurative “without the light of reason” appears about 1260 in the laude of Cortona, and “dark, without light” in Dante.[6] The TLIO adds a 14th-century proverb, cane frettoloso fa catelli ciechi, “a hasty bitch bears blind puppies”.[4] The sense “without an exit” is in Annibal Caro (before 1566), and the anatomical intestino cieco, the first part of the large intestine, in Mondino de' Liuzzi in the 15th century.[6]

Fortune and love are cieche because they distribute their favours blindly, and alla cieca means “blindly, at random”.[8][2] The feminine noun cieca names the young eel whose eyes are still closed (1891), and in Pisa and Pistoia also the slow-worm;[7][9][11] Prati records lettera cieca for an anonymous letter.[7][9][11]

Timeline

  • c. 1225 – Garzo uses cieco for “blind”.[6]
  • c. 1260 – The laude of Cortona use it for “without reason”.[6]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “dark”.[6]
  • 15th century – Mondino de' Liuzzi names the intestino cieco.[6]
  • Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses it for “without an exit”.[6]
  • 1891 – Cieca is recorded for the young eel.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. blind, unable to see: È cieco da un occhio dalla nascita.[8][2][1]
  2. (figurative) Blinded by passion, without judgement: cieco d'odio.[8][1]
  3. (figurative) Unconditional, total: una fiducia cieca.[8]
  4. (figurative) Of fortune or love, acting without regard to merit.[8][2]
  5. Without an exit or opening: vicolo cieco, muro cieco.[8][1]
  6. (literary) Dark, without light.[8][1]

Noun

  1. A blind person: Il cieco attraversava la strada con il cane guida.[8][2][1]

Word family

  • cieca
  • cecità
  • accecare
  • accecamento
  • cecaggine
  • ciecamente
  • semicieco

Usage notes

DEI gives a separate entry to the anatomical cieco, the caecum, a learned word from Latin caecum, itself a calque of the Greek name used by Aristotle.[12] Mosca cieca is blind man's buff, and vicolo cieco a dead end.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  4. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  5. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 551
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 288
  12. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 932