comito

Forms

comito m (plural comiti)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian comite, Old Italian còmmito, Old Italian comitto and Old Italian gomito.^[2][3][4] Old Neapolitan had còmmeto and Old Anconitan còmeto and ghòmeto (1397).^[4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin comes (“companion”), which in Late Latin became the title of various officials.^{[4][3][5][6][7]} One of these was an inspector of shipping on the Tiber and of ports.^[8] Prati thinks the naval sense was probably passed to Italy by the Byzantines, and rather late, since the Venetian form was not voiced to ⟨còmedo⟩.^[8] The Latin word is the source of conte as well.^[9][1]

De Vaan explains the Latin word as a compound of com- and the root of eō (“to go”), with a PIE suffix *-t-: “one who goes along”.^[10][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the poems of the Anonimo Genovese, from before 1311, where the comito is the commander of a galley.^[2] Old Italian also used the word in the Latin senses of “travelling companion” and “count, lord”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Francesco da Barberino equates the word with the helmsman: Lo nocchier predetto / è qui comito detto (“the aforesaid helmsman / is here called comito”).^[3] On galleys the comito was the first petty officer, in charge of the sails and the rowing, much like a modern nostromo.^[7][3] Poliziano's Stanze show him with his whistle: Al fischiar del cómito, sfrenella / la gnuda ciurma e' remi (“at the comito's whistle the naked crew lets loose the oars”).^[3][5]

From the 13th century the word named the commanders of galleys in Venice, and in Angevin Naples the harbour masters.^[6][7] Under the Bourbons it became the title of warders in the Neapolitan penal colonies.^[7][5] French borrowed it as comite in the 13th century, and German had Comita from 1434.^[11]

Timeline

• 800s – The Byzantine emperor Leo VI records the title for naval officers.^[8]
• 1161 – The word is recorded in Medieval Latin in northern Italy.^[11]
• Before 1311 – The Anonimo Genovese uses comito for a galley commander.^[2]
• 1343 – Pisan gòmito is recorded.^[8]
• Before 1348 – GRADIT dates the word.^[7]
• 1358 – French comite takes the sense “chief of the crew”.^[11]
• 1397 – Old Anconitan ghòmeto is recorded.^[4]
• 1434 – German Comita is first recorded.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (nautical, historical) On galleys, the petty officer in charge of handling the oars and sails, corresponding to the modern nostromo (boatswain).^{[7][9][12][1]}
2. (historical) In Venice from the 13th century, the commander of a galley.^[6][12][1]
3. (historical) In the Neapolitan provinces under the Angevins, a harbourmaster.^[7][5][1]
4. (historical) Under the Bourbons, a warder in the penal colonies of Naples.^[7][5]

Word family

• sopracomito
• sopraccomito
• sottocomito

Related words

• conte
• comite
• Latin comes

Usage notes

The GDLI also records a rare adjective comito, “gone, past”, in Francesco da Barberino, as the participle of an otherwise unrecorded verb comire.^[3]

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 d e f g Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 357
4. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1029
5. ^ a b c d e 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 c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 314
9. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli