cocchiume

Forms

cocchiume m (plural cocchiumi)^[1] Old Tuscan forms include chochiume and chuchiume;^[2][3][4] Burchiello (before 1449) has gucchiume.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[5][1] For DELI, GRADIT, Zingarelli, Sabatini–Coletti and Gabrielli it is, with doubts, inherited from Late Latin caucus (“cup”) with the Italian suffix -ume.^{[5][6][4][7][8]} The Latin word is from Ancient Greek καῦκος (kaûkos, “cup”), a Greek word of uncertain origin.^[1][4]

Others connect it with northern Italian words for a bung, such as Lombard cocón and Friulian calcón.^[9][10][11] Meyer-Lübke derives the Tuscan word from the Veronese one, and Treccani calls it a remake of central and northern dialect forms.^[11][10] With Prati and Devoto they trace these to Latin calcō (“to tread, press”), Prati through a form in ⟨cauc-⟩ from ⟨calc-⟩, and the LEI files the word under the same verb.^{[11][12][13][10][3]} Nocentini instead derives it from calce “lime” with the suffix ⟨-ume⟩, because the bung of a barrel was first made of lime.^[9] DEI sees a Tuscan change of suffix in central and northern dialect words for a bung, and also compares the Latin word for a cup, perhaps through a diminutive.^[14] Devoto–Oli derives it from a variant of coccio “earthenware”, the material of the bung.^[15] Wiktionary also cites a link with Latin cortex (“bark, cork”), through a form related to Spanish corcho (“cork”).^[1][16]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Florentine Pratica del vino (1342–48), where it is the hole in the upper part of a barrel.^[2] DELI's earliest text is the Tuscan translation of Palladius (about 1340), where it is the wooden or cork stopper of a barrel.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Both senses, the hole and its stopper, have stood side by side since the 14th century: Boccaccio's Decameron uses it for the opening of a barrel, and the Tuscan translation of Crescenzi for the stopper, made of green willow with the bark removed.^[5][17][3] Sansovino records it at Florence in 1568, and Sienese still has it.^[3]

A Tuscan proverb says that a small barrel needs as large a bung as a big one.^[17] Today it is a technical word of the cellar: the hole, three to eight centimetres wide, is made in a stave at the barrel's widest point and serves for filling and emptying, sulphuring and taking samples.^[10][6]

Timeline

• About 1340 – The Tuscan translation of Palladius uses it for a barrel's stopper.^[5]
• 1342–1348 – The Florentine Pratica del vino has it for the hole in a barrel.^[2][9]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for the hole of a barrel.^[5]
• Before 1449 – Burchiello has the form gucchiume.^[3]
• 18th century – The verb cocchiumare is recorded.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bung, the cork or wooden stopper that closes the hole of a barrel.^{[6][15][18][2]}
2. The bunghole, the hole at a barrel's widest point, used for filling and emptying it.^{[6][15][7][2]}

Word family

• cocchiumare

Related words

• calcare
• Latin caucus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 919
4. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ 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)
11. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 303
13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 992
15. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
17. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
18. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana