coniglio

Forms

coniglio m (plural conigli, feminine coniglia)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cunīculus (“rabbit; underground passage”), but its ⟨gl⟩ from Latin ⟨cl⟩ is not the Tuscan outcome (which would give ⟨cchi⟩): Nocentini and Devoto see a northern, Gallo-Italian development.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes it through a western Romance language, perhaps a variety of Gallo-Italic.^[1] Meyer-Lübke and Sabatini–Coletti derive it from Old Occitan conilh, while Prati found no good reason to take it from Old French or Occitan.^[5][6][7] It is a doublet of the learned cunicolo “tunnel”.^[1][3]

The Latin word survives in Old French conil, Occitan conilh, Catalan conill, Spanish conejo and Portuguese coelho, and in northern dialect forms such as Venetian cunìcio at Treviso and Lombard conìc’ at Bergamo, and it passed into Greek, Breton and German.^[3][8][5] The dialects of Venice, Padua and Vicenza have conégio.^[7]

The Latin word is of pre-Indo-European origin.^[2][9] Pliny the Elder said the animal came from Spain, where it was called by this name, and Nocentini, DEI and Wiktionary see a diminutive built on an Iberian word, comparing Basque untxi (“rabbit”) and kui.^[3][8][1] The OLD calls it possibly Iberian.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin conilius is recorded at Bologna in 1211.^[2] The TLIO's first Italian record is the Sienese translation of Giles of Rome of 1288, for the animal of the hare family.^[11][3] The figurative sense “coward” is in Giovanni Villani (before 1348), who says the Flemish were called by every nation conigli pieni di burro, rabbits full of butter, for their cowardice.^[2][12]

Semantic evolution

Besides the animal, Old Italian used the word for its fur and its meat, and for the timid creature of similes.^[11] Boccaccio's Decameron has rabbits coming out on one side (1353), and the Tuscan proverb pauroso come un coniglio and the phrase cuor di coniglio fix the idea of fear.^[2][12] The word conigliera, the hutch or warren, is recorded in 1309–1310.^[3]

Prati notes that the Romans brought the rabbit from Iberia, and that Lorenzo de' Medici had a breed of Spanish rabbits brought to Florence.^[7] Today the word also names someone very prolific.^[13] The words Modern Greek κουνέλι (kounéli) and Sardinian conigliu were borrowed from Italian.^[1]

Timeline

• 1211 – Medieval Latin conilius is recorded at Bologna.^[2]
• 1288 – Coniglio appears in the Sienese translation of Giles of Rome.^[11][3]
• 1309–1310 – Conigliera is recorded.^[3]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses conigli for cowards.^[2]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses coniglio in the Decameron.^[2][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rabbit, the long-eared lagomorph of the hare family (Oryctolagus cuniculus), wild or bred for meat and fur.^{[13][14][9][1]}
2. The meat of the rabbit: coniglio alla cacciatora.^[13][14][9]
3. Rabbit fur: un colletto di coniglio.^[13][14][15]
4. (figurative) A timid or cowardly person: Davanti al capo diventa un coniglio.^[13][14][6]
5. (figurative) A very prolific person.^[13]

Word family

• conigliera
• coniglietto
• coniglino
• conigliesco
• conigliolo

Related words

• lepre
• cunicolo
• Latin cuniculus
• Spanish conejo

Usage notes

The feminine is coniglia.^[1][14] Avere un cuor di coniglio means to be fearful.^[12][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 321
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1063
9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ 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
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli