cofano

Forms

cofano m (plural cofani)^[1] Old and dialect forms include Old Italian cofino, Old Italian coffano, Old Italian goffano and Old Italian cufino.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin cophinus (“basket”), from Ancient Greek κόφινος (kóphinos, “basket”), whose origin is uncertain.^{[4][5][6][1][7]} The change of the middle *-i-* to *-a-* in a word stressed on the third syllable from the end is frequent in Tuscan.^[8] A form Medieval Latin cophanus was already written at Venice in 1271.^[4][6]

The same Latin word is French coffre (“chest”) and French coffin, Occitan cove, Catalan cove, Spanish cuévano and Portuguese côvão.^[5][1][9] The latter gave the English word coffin.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Storie de Troia e de Roma, a Roman text of 1252–1258.^[2] DELI dates the form cofino to a will of 1263 and cofano to the 14th-century Italian version of Seneca, with the sense “a large chest with a lid”.^[4] Old Italian also used the word for a wicker basket.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the cofano was a chest of any size, for travel, for a bride's trousseau or for valuables, often richly decorated.^[2] In the Middle Ages and Renaissance it was a piece of luxury furniture.^[3] The sense “strongbox” appears before 1527 in Machiavelli.^[4] The small cofanetto for jewels is recorded in the 14th-century Tavola ritonda.^[4]

Military Italian used cofano for an ammunition chest and, in old fortifications, for a defensive work in a dry ditch.^[10][6] The modern sense, the hinged metal cover over a car's engine, is first recorded in D'Annunzio in 1910.^[4][10]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – The Storie de Troia e de Roma contain the first record.^[2]
• 1263 – The form cofino is recorded in a will.^[4]
• 1271 – Medieval Latin cophanus is recorded at Venice.^[4]
• 14th century – Cofano appears in the Italian version of Seneca, and cofanetto in the Tavola ritonda.^[4]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses the word for a strongbox.^[4]
• 1910 – D'Annunzio uses it for the cover of a car's engine.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (automotive) The bonnet or hood of a car, the hinged cover of the engine; also the lid of the boot, or the boot itself.^[6][8][1]
2. A movable metal cover over engines and delicate equipment.^[6]
3. (nautical) A housing on a ship's deck over the holds or the engine room.^[6][8]
4. (furniture) A large chest with a lid, often decorated, for linen and valuables; a coffer.^[11][8][12]
5. (military) A chest for carrying ammunition: cofano d'artiglieria.^[11][12]

Word family

• cofanetto
• cofanatura

Related words

• Latin cophinus
• French coffre

Usage notes

Pesce cofano is the boxfish, named after the shape of the chest.^[6][13] In the Navy, the cofano della bandiera is the box in which a ship keeps its battle flag.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 305
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1002