comignolo

Forms

comignolo m (plural comignoli)^[1] Old forms are colmignolo and colmigno.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Italian colmigno with a diminutive suffix.^[4][5][6] That was the old word for the ridge of a roof, and it continues Vulgar Latin *culmineum, from Latin culmen (“top, summit; ridge of a roof”).^[4][5][7][8] DELI and Zingarelli take the word straight from the Vulgar Latin form.^[9][10] The ⟨l⟩ of the older colmignolo was lost by dissimilation against the ⟨l⟩ of the suffix.^[11][6]

The Vulgar Latin word lives on in the dialects of Tuscany and the north, for example Emilian colmigna and Venetian culmegna.^[4][11][8] It is missing in the south.^[11] Medieval Latin culmigna is recorded at Parma in 1255 and culminea, the ridge beam, at Como in 1257.^[12][11]

The Latin word is a doublet of columen, from Proto-Italic *kelamen- and Proto-Indo-European *kelH-men- (“top, summit”).^[13][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the volgarizzamento of Pietro de' Crescenzi, about 1350, where nets that close at the top are said to join like un comignolo di casa di paglia, the ridge of a thatched house.^[9][14] The TLIO's first record is the Tuscan translation of Jacopo da Cessole's book on chess, also from the mid-14th century.^[15] The sense is the top line of a roof, where its slopes meet.^[9][15]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word figuratively for the home as a refuge, and for the top of any object.^[15][14] In building it also named the ridge beam and the ridge tiles.^[10][2][3] In farming it is the ridge of a stack of sheaves laid like a roof.^[16][14]

The sense “chimney pot”, the top of the flue standing above the roof, is first recorded in Ippolito Nievo before 1861.^[9] It is now the most common sense, before the older “ridge of a roof”.^[16][2]

Timeline

• 1255 – Medieval Latin culmigna is recorded at Parma.^[12]
• 1257 – Medieval Latin culminea “ridge beam” is recorded at Como.^[11]
• 1275 – Colmigno appears in a Prato document.^[15]
• About 1350 – Comignolo appears in the volgarizzamento of Crescenzi.^[9]
• Before 1861 – Ippolito Nievo uses it for a chimney pot.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. chimney pot: the top of a flue that stands above the roof: fumaiolo.^{[16][5][17][10][1]}
2. (building) The ridge of a roof, where its slopes meet, and the beam or tiles along it.^{[16][5][10][2]}
3. (agriculture) The top of a stack of sheaves built like a roof.^[16][5][2]
4. (figurative, uncommon) The highest part of something.^[5][14]

Word family

• comignolato

Related words

• colmo
• culmine
• colmigno
• Latin culmen

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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)
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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 103
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 117
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1028
12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1016
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
16. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
17. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse