colpo

Forms

colpo m (plural colpi)^[1] Medieval spellings include Old Italian cholpo, Old Italian corpo and Old Italian culpo.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin colpus (“blow”), the form found in the Salic Law (6th century), a contraction of Latin colaphus (“punch, slap”), which is borrowed from Ancient Greek κόλαφος (kólaphos, “slap, cuff”), a Greek word of uncertain origin.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} DEI notes a variant with an inner ⟨o⟩ in manuscripts of Quintilian and in Petronius's percolopō (“to slap hard”).^[6] Devoto explains the contracted form as an old popular borrowing, with the Greek ⟨ph⟩ written as a plain ⟨p⟩ and the inner vowel lost, while the classical form kept both.^[7] The LEI suggests from the Salic Law context, where a slave is to receive a number of blows, that the contracted form belonged to the speech of slaves, as opposed to classical ictus (“blow”), which the Reichenau Glosses explain by it.^[8]

The word is found in Italian, French, Occitan and Catalan and beyond: French coup, Occitan colp, Catalan colp (“time, occasion”), Spanish golpe, Portuguese golpe, Sardinian kolpu, Romansh culp and Dalmatian kwálp.^[4][9][8][6] In the 19th century Tommaseo preferred a Germanic source such as Old High German kolbo (“club”), but Diez objected that Romance would not have broken up the initial cluster of such a word.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Brunetto Latini (before 1294), in the sense “knock, push, violent blow”: “Sovente traea / gran colpi di saette” (often he shot great volleys of arrows).^[3][12] The TLIO's earliest text is the Cremonese Ugo di Perso, from the first half of the 13th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old Italian the word was used of an attack or duel, of the wound or scar left by a blow, of a violent shock to the feelings, and of a sudden stroke of fortune or nature.^[2] Dante has the sense “strong and sudden emotion” and the colpo di vento, “gust of wind”.^[3][13] The sense “report of a gun” is recorded before 1530, “undertaking, not always a lawful one” before 1543 in Firenzuola, and “sudden fit or stroke” in 1808.^[3]

DELI notes that most phrases with colpo are calques of French: a colpo sicuro (à coup sûr), colpo di fulmine, colpo di grazia, colpo di mano, colpo di stato, colpo di sole, colpo di testa, colpo d'occhio and senza colpo ferire.^[3][4][12] Colpo di spugna, a wiping clean of the slate, is recorded in 1932.^[4] The verb colpire “to strike”, from the 13th century, is typically Italian, and the Old French colpir is a borrowing from Italian.^[3][8] Turkish borrowed the noun as kolpa.^[1]

Timeline

• 6th century – Latin colpus appears in the Salic Law.^[4][8]
• Early 13th century – Colpo appears in Ugo di Perso.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a blow.^[3][5]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a sudden strong emotion.^[3]
• Before 1530 – The sense “report, detonation” is recorded.^[3]
• 18th century – Colpo di grazia, colpo di mano and colpo di stato are taken from French.^[4]
• 1808 – The sense “stroke, sudden fit” is recorded.^[3]
• 1932 – Colpo di spugna is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A blow, knock or hit: Ha rotto il lucchetto con un colpo di martello.^{[5][14][15][1]}
2. A shot from a firearm; a round of ammunition: Il fucile aveva ancora due colpi.^{[5][15][16][1]}
3. The noise of a blow or shot, a bang: Abbiamo sentito un colpo alla porta.^[5][15][17]
4. A quick movement of a tool or control: un colpo di spazzola, un colpo di freno.^[5][15]
5. (sport) A punch in boxing, a shot or stroke in ball games: colpo di testa, a header.^[5][15][18]
6. A sudden painful event, a shock: La notizia è stata un brutto colpo per tutti.^[5][15]
7. A criminal job, a heist; also a clever or lucky move: bel colpo!^[5][15][1]
8. (medicine, colloquial) A stroke or sudden fit: colpo apoplettico.^[5][3][1]

Word family

• colpire
• contraccolpo
• colpetto
• colpaccio

Related words

• Latin colaphus
• French coup
• Spanish golpe

Usage notes

Di colpo means “suddenly”, and far colpo “to make an impression”.^[6][1] DEI lists a minor word colpo, a stone cut round rather than flat, recorded at Venice in 1233, probably from Greek kólpos “bosom, bay”.^[19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1021
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 622
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 1509
11. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 323
13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 311
14. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
18. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
19. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1022