coccia

Forms

coccia f (plural cocce)^[1] Old Italian texts have choccia, Old Italian coça and Old Italian cocza.^[2] The plural is cocce.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cochlea (“snail; snail shell”), which is from Ancient Greek κοχλίας (kokhlías, “snail with a spiral shell”).^[5][6][7][1] The Italian word does not come straight from the classical form: Nocentini posits a spoken *cŏcea, and the LEI a variant *coccja already present in Latin.^[6][8] The LEI supports it with the wide spread of its outcomes: Friulian còze, French cosse (“pod”) from the 11th century, and Old Occitan cossa, a small measure for grain.^[8] Devoto–Oli explains ⟨-ccia⟩ instead of Tuscan ⟨-cchia⟩ as a northern development of ⟨-clea⟩.^[3]

DEI was less sure: it thought of a Latin *coccia from a crossing of the Latin word for snail with coccum (“berry”), or of a back-formation from cocciola.^[9] Medieval Latin has the word for a shell at Assisi in 1469 and for the head at Teramo in 1440.^[9][5] The same Latin word gave cozza, from the non-Tuscan variant, and the learned coclea.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma of 1252–1258.^[2] Its first sense in Old Italian is a hard covering that encloses and protects something, a shell, and of people the outside of the skull.^[2] DELI's earliest dated sense is “shell of a crustacean”, in the Tuscan Palladius of about 1340.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From “shell” the word passed to “skull” and “head”: DELI compares Caporali's line about “the rough, hard coccia of the head” (l'aspra coccia e dura / Del capo, before 1601), and Salvini records “head” in 1726.^[5] Nocentini traces a further sense, “earthenware vessel”, the reverse of the development of testa, which explains coccio; the head gave cocciuto “stubborn”, which seems to have spread from Rome, and the sense “bump” gave cocciola “swelling”.^[6][5] The non-Tuscan cozza, “skull, horns”, lies behind cozzare “to butt”.^[6]

From the 18th century the word names rounded metal parts: the bell guard of a sword (1729, in the Crusca dictionary), the cap of a pistol grip, the skull of a helmet.^[5][10][7] In 1965 it is recorded in theatre slang for the cap actors wear to look bald.^[5] In central Italy it still means peel, rind or shell, as in the Roman proverb fare come gli antichi, che mangiavano le cocce e buttavano i fichi, said of acting against one's own interest.^[10][3]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – First record, in the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma.^[2]
• About 1340 – Coccia “shell of a crustacean” in the Tuscan Palladius.^[5]
• 1427 – Cocciuto appears in San Bernardino of Siena.^[5]
• 1440 – Medieval Latin coccia “head” is recorded at Teramo.^[5][9]
• 1726 – Anton Maria Salvini records the sense “head”.^[5]
• 1729 – The fourth Crusca dictionary has the sense “bell guard of a sword”.^[5]
• 1965 – The sense “actor's bald cap” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) The shell of a crustacean or mollusc;^[7][3][11] coccia marina, an oyster.^[7][3][11]
2. (regional, central Italy) peel, rind or shell in general: le cocce delle mandorle.^[7][3][10]
3. (regional, humorous) The head: avere la coccia dura, to be stubborn.^[7][3][10]
4. (fencing, arms) The bell guard of a sword, sabre or foil, protecting the hand.^[7][3][4]
5. (arms) The metal cap or ornament on the grip of old pistols.^[7][10]
6. (arms) In old armour, the part of the helmet covering the top of the head.^[7][3]
7. (theatre) A cap worn by actors to look bald.^[7][3]
8. (nautical) A thimble for a rope.^[7][3]
9. (rare) The bowl of a pipe.^[7][11]
10. (rare) A swelling or bump.^[7][11]

Word family

• coccio
• cocciola
• cocciuto
• cocciutaggine
• cozzare
• cozzo
• accozzare
• incocciare
• scocciare
• scocciatore

Related words

• cozza
• coclea
• chiocciola
• Latin cochlea

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
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 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
6. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 265
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 992
10. ^ a b c d e 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 d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli