coglia

Forms

coglia f (plural coglie)^[1] Old Italian forms include chullia, cugla and culia.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cōlea (“testicles”), the neuter plural of *cōleum, a by-form of Latin cōleus (“testicle”), taken as a feminine singular.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The plural type also gave Old French coille (modern French couille), Old Occitan colha (“scrotum”) and Sardinian kodza.^[4][3][7] The Latin singular survives in Romanian coaie, coil and colh.^[4][7]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[8][6] Nocentini compares culleus (“leather bag”) and Ancient Greek κολεός (koleós, “sheath”), words linked with cēlō (“to hide”).^[3][9] Wiktionary thinks it most likely comes from cōlō (“to strain”), and Devoto from cōlum (“sieve”).^[1][10] The DEI suggests a Mediterranean word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the form chullia in a 13th-century collection of medical recipes from western Tuscany, in the sense “scrotum”.^[2] Florentine coglia appears at the end of the century in Dante da Maiano.^[4] A medical text of the time recommends certain remedies for abscesses “that come in the scrotum”.^[9][11]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the word for a testicle and for the genitals.^[2] It is recorded in Sicilian as cugla in 1348, and in Lucca, Burchiello, Tassoni and, in 1903, D'Annunzio, who wrote of the coglia of a fighting ram.^[4][11] In Tuscan it became a term of abuse for a vain, foolish man, as in Giusti, and seccar le coglie meant to annoy.^[11][9] In the dialects of central and southern Italy the word came to mean “hernia”.^[8][7] The dictionaries now mark it as obsolete, archaic or vulgar.^[5][12][6]

Timeline

• 13th century – Chullia in the western Tuscan medical recipes.^[2]
• Late 13th century – Florentine coglia in Dante da Maiano.^[4]
• 1348 – Sicilian cugla in Senisio's Declarus.^[4]
• Before 1449 – Burchiello uses coglia.^[4]
• 1903 – D'Annunzio uses the word in his poetry.^[4][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary, anatomy) The scrotum.^{[5][12][13][6][14][1]}
2. (vulgar, figurative) A stupid, conceited person; a fop.^{[5][12][6][1]}

Word family

• cogliarella

Related words

• coglione
• Latin coleus
• French couille

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 714
5. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1003
9. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)