ciocca

Forms

ciocca f (plural ciocche)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3][4][5] The usual explanation is that it is from Medieval Latin clocca (“bell”), a word also used of anything hanging like a bell; the Tuscan sense “bunch of leaves or fruit hanging from a branch” would be a transfer of the northern Piedmontese ciòca and Lombard ciòca (“bell”).^[2][6][7] Meyer-Lübke traced the Italian word to Venetian ciocca (“large bunch of grapes; bundle”), also found in Ferrarese and Romagnol, and Devoto to northern forms in which ⟨cl-⟩ became ⟨ci-⟩ and not, as in Tuscan, ⟨chi-⟩.^[8][9]

The Medieval Latin word is recorded from the 7th century, in the life of Saint Columbanus, and in northern Italy it named the church bell at Milan in 1143 and 1156.^[10] It is probably Celtic, compare Old Irish cloc (“bell”), and Irish monks are thought to have spread it, with Bobbio as one centre.^[6][8] The same word is French cloche, Old High German glocka and German Glocke, and English clock.^[6][8][11] DEI doubts the Irish route because the word is also found in the south, and prefers an onomatopoeic word.^[10]

Zaccaria derived it from a Germanic word for a heap or bundle, Middle High German schoc.^[12] Tommaseo compared Latin floccus (“tuft of wool”), but doubted it.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante's Commedia, before 1313, where ciocca is a lock of hair: E tratti glien' avea più d'una ciocca (“and I had already pulled out more than one lock of his hair”).^[14][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used it for a tuft of beard, and had the phrases a ciocca a ciocca “one after another” and in ciocca “completely”.^[14] The plant sense, “a bunch of leaves, flowers or fruit on the same twig”, is dated by DELI to Lorenzo de' Medici in 1477, an earlier attestation in Bencivenni being a forgery.^[2] Tommaseo adds the silk flowers placed on altars and given to the priest at certain feasts.^[13]

In Tuscan the word also means a small bunch of grapes.^[15] The flower violacciocca takes its name from viola a ciocca.^[16][5]

Timeline

• 7th century – Medieval Latin clocca “bell” is recorded in the life of Saint Columbanus.^[10]
• Before 1313 – Dante uses ciocca for a lock of hair.^[3][14]
• 1477 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses it for a bunch of leaves or fruit.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lock or tuft of hair: una ciocca di capelli grigi.^[3][15][4]
2. A cluster of leaves, flowers or fruit on the same twig: una ciocca di rosmarino.^[3][15][4]
3. (Tuscany) A small bunch of grapes.^[15][3]

Word family

• ciocchetta
• violacciocca

Related words

• Medieval Latin clocca
• French cloche

Usage notes

A ciocche means “in great numbers”.^[16][5] GRADIT also has a rare ciocca “tree stump” (1956), probably derived from ciocco; in law ciocca or ciocca durante is a contract to plant vines on someone's land, valid as long as the vines live.^[3][15][17]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 95
10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 949
11. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 100
12. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves, p. 116
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
15. ^ 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
16. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 166