cogno

Forms

cogno m (plural cogni)^[1] Older Italian also had the feminine plurals cogna and cognora.^[2][3][4] Spellings of the TLIO's period include Old Italian chogno and Old Italian congno.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin congius (“a liquid measure”).^{[6][7][1][8][9]} The cluster of /n/ and /j/ gave Tuscan /ɲɲ/, as axungia (“lard”) gave sugna, while northern forms such as Old Italian conzo have /ndz/.^[9] The same Latin word survives in Friulian kuinz (“tub”) and Sardinian kóndzu, and the learned doublet is congio.^[8][9][6]

congius is connected with Ancient Greek κόγχη (kónkhē, “shell; a liquid measure”): Wiktionary derives it from the diminutive κογχίον (konkhíon), while the OLD only compares κόγχος (kónkhos).^[1][10][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Florentine document of 1259–67, where the cogno is a measure used above all for selling wine wholesale.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Giovanni Villani reports that at the vintage valse il cogno di comunale vino fiorini 6 d'oro “a cogno of ordinary wine cost six gold florins”.^[4][3] The Florentine cogno was ten barrels, 455.84 litres.^[6][11] Old Italian also used it to translate the Latin congius, which Tommaseo notes was a smaller measure.^[5][3]

Later the word named the quantity of oil a peasant owed for the use of an olive press, also called conio.^[6][11] In the dialects it also names containers, such as a kind of basket.^[9][12]

Timeline

• 1259–1267 – A Florentine document has the word.^[5]
• 1281–1287 – Cogno di vino appears in Florentine records.^[9]
• 1479 – Poliziano uses cogno.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) An old measure of capacity for liquids, especially wine, equal to ten Florentine barrels, about 456 litres.^{[6][11][2][13]}
2. (historical) The quantity of oil a peasant owed for the use of an olive press.^{[6][7][2][11]}
3. The Roman congius.^[5][1]

Related words

• congio
• Latin congius

Usage notes

Cogno “wedge”, from Latin cuneus, is an old and dialect variant of cuneo: Annibal Caro's Aeneid has per forza di cogni e di bipenne “by means of wedges and axes”.^{[6][4][3][14]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
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. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ 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. 17, 94
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ 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)
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 306
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1004