ciriola

Forms

ciriola f (plural ciriole)^[1] The old form is ciriuola;^[2][3][4] ceriola is in the 17th-century dictionaries, and Belli's Roman has sciriola and cciriola (1831–33).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Late Latin cereola, the feminine of an adjective meaning “wax-coloured” or “like a candle”, which Late Latin also used as a noun for a small candle or candlestick.^[5][6][7][2] The Latin word is a diminutive formation from cēra (“wax”), through cēreus (“of wax; wax candle”).^[5][2] The eel and the Roman loaf were named after the shape of a thin candle, and perhaps its yellowish colour.^[5][8][3][9]

The sources word this differently: Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti start from the feminine of the same Latin adjective, “of wax, candle-shaped” with a diminutive suffix, Zingarelli from Italian cero “large candle”, and the GDLI compares Medieval Latin ciriolus (“candle”).^{[10][3][8][11]} GRADIT gives the Latin origin as likely only.^[7] The LEI notes that the sound shape of the Italian word is semi-learned.^[2]

Spanish has the same Latin word with another meaning: Spanish ciruela (“plum”), a fruit of the colour of wax.^[2][12] In the northern dialects it also names Candlemas, the feast of candles on 2 February.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is ciriuola in Burchiello (before 1449), meaning a small eel: a ciriuola has settled on a balcony to watch a joust.^[11][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The eel sense came first and stayed regional, at home in central Italy;^[6][8] Treccani describes the ciriole as the young eels that swim up the rivers from the sea.^[6][8] Belli's Roman (1831–33) uses it, with the derivative ciriolaro, a man who fishes for small eels.^[2]

From the slippery eel, a person who slips away came to be called the same: Varchi (before 1565) has ceriuolo for a fool and a traitor, and in the 20th century ciriola was used for a political turncoat and anyone who breaks their word.^[2][6] In Rome the word also names a long loaf, thick in the middle and pointed at the ends;^[11][2][7] Pasolini has it, and cirioletta (1959).^[11][2][7] The Roman verb ciriolare “to wriggle like an eel, to wriggle out of things” also goes back to the eel.^[2] At Terni ciriole are a rustic kind of tagliatelle.^[10]

Timeline

• Before 1449 – Burchiello uses ciriuola for a small eel.^[2][11]
• Before 1565 – Varchi has ceriuolo “fool; traitor”.^[2]
• 1620 – Ciriola appears in Marino.^[2]
• 1831–1833 – Belli's Roman has sciriole and ciriolaro.^[2]
• 1950 – Ciriola “turncoat” is recorded in the appendix to Panzini's dictionary.^[2]
• 1959 – Pasolini uses cirioletta and ciriolare in Roman Italian.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional, central Italy) A small, thin eel.^{[7][10][3][8]}
2. (figurative) An unreliable, slippery person who breaks their word; a turncoat.^[7][3][4]
3. (Rome) A long loaf of bread, swollen in the middle and tapering at the ends.^[7][3][8]
4. (cooking, usually plural) A rustic kind of tagliatelle, a speciality of Terni.^[10]

Word family

• ciriolare
• cirioletta
• ciriolina

Related words

• cera
• cero
• Spanish ciruela

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 13, 1099
3. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter