cielo

Forms

cielo m (plural cieli)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian celu, Old Italian celo and, in the north, Old Italian cel and Old Italian ciel.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin caelum (“sky, heaven”), whose stressed /ae/ became an open /ɛ/ and then, in an open syllable, the Tuscan diphthong /jɛ/.^[2][4][5][1] The same word is found in every Romance language: French ciel, Occitan cel, Catalan cel, Spanish cielo, Portuguese céu, Sardinian chelu, Dalmatian sil and Romanian cer.^[4][6][7] The plural used by Christian writers follows Ecclesiastical Latin caelī, a calque of Ancient Greek οὐρανοί (ouranoí), which in turn follows a Hebrew plural.^[8]

The Latin word is of uncertain origin.^[2][9] Nocentini and Devoto derive it from Latin caedō (“to cut”), as a space marked out for watching the flight of birds and the movement of the stars.^[4][10] DEI thinks the link with Oscan kaíla is better explained as a relic of a Mediterranean substrate.^[8] De Vaan, following Schrijver, connects it with Welsh coel (“omen”) and with Proto-Indo-European *keh₂i-lo- (“whole”), the source of Old Church Slavonic цѣлъ (cělŭ, “whole”).^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record DELI gives is celu for the seat of God and the saints in the Ritmo cassinese at the end of the 12th century.^[2] The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur.^[3] Saint Francis's Canticle (1224) praises God for the moon and stars: “in celu l'ài formate clarite et preziose et belle” (in the sky you formed them, bright, precious and fair).^[2][12][9] The modern form cielo is in Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Iacopone da Todi (before 1306) uses the word for each of the heavenly spheres of the Ptolemaic system, Dante for the sky over a given region, and Boccaccio (about 1336) for the ceiling of a room.^[2] The LEI lists further senses in Italian and the dialects: the canopy of a bed, the roof of a carriage, the vault of an oven and the palate.^[6][7] Albero del cielo “tree of heaven”, the ailanthus, translates a Malay name.^[8]

Many phrases use the word: toccare il cielo con un dito “to be overjoyed”, apriti cielo! of a violent reaction, essere al settimo cielo “to be in seventh heaven” and a cielo aperto “in the open”.^[13][14][12] The weather proverb cielo a pecorelle, acqua a catinelle says that a mackerel sky brings rain.^[13][14]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – Celu “heaven” appears in the Ritmo cassinese.^[2]
• 1224 – Saint Francis uses celu for the sky.^[2][12]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the form cielo.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses it for a heavenly sphere.^[2]
• About 1336 – Boccaccio uses it for the ceiling of a room.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The sky, the vault above the earth in which the stars seem to move: Stanotte il cielo è pieno di stelle.^{[12][15][5][1]}
2. The sky as to the weather: cielo sereno, cielo coperto.^[12][13][14]
3. The sky or airspace over a place: il cielo di Napoli.^[12][5][14]
4. heaven, the dwelling of God and the blessed: il regno dei cieli.^[12][5][1]
5. God, Providence, and as an exclamation of surprise or fear: Santo cielo, che cosa è successo?^[12][5]
6. (astronomy, historical) In the Ptolemaic system, each of the heavenly spheres.^[5][2]
7. The top or inner roof of something: the ceiling of a room, the roof of a car or tunnel.^[5][16]

Word family

• grattacielo
• sopraccielo

Related words

• celeste
• celestiale
• Latin caelum
• French ciel

Usage notes

Né in cielo né in terra says that something is absurd or impossible, and muovere cielo e terra means “to move heaven and earth”.^[13][16][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 613
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 932
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
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 d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ 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 Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli