conno

Forms

conno m (plural conni)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cŭnnus (“female genitals”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The same word is French con, Occitan con, Catalan cony, Spanish coño and Sardinian cunnu,^[2][5] and Vegliote kon.^[6] The DEI also notes it in the dialects of southern Italy, in Sicily and Calabria.^[5]

The origin of the Latin word is disputed.^[1][7] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *kut-no- (“scrotum, vagina”), from a root *kut- (“bag”), with Welsh cwd (“bag, scrotum”), Ancient Greek κυσός (kusós) and Old High German hodo (“testicle”) as cognates.^[8] Nocentini compares κύσθος (kústhos, “vulva”), perhaps from a root *keu- (“to hide, cover”), so that the first sense would be “the parts to be covered”.^[2] The DEI suggested a Mediterranean relic word and compared ⟨Konnakis⟩, the name of a prostitute painted on a phlyax vase from Taranto.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Florentine poet Antonio Pucci, before 1388, in the anatomical sense “female sexual organ”.^[9] The DEI dates the word to the 15th century, from the burlesque Pataffio.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged to comic and satirical verse: Tommaseo quotes it from the Pataffio, Burchiello, Ariosto's Satire and Antonio Alamanni's sonnets.^[10][11] The modern dictionaries label it literary and obsolete.^{[3][1][12][13]}

The learned cunnilinguo (before 1910) was taken directly from Latin cunnilingus, and cunnilingio followed in 1956.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1388 – Antonio Pucci uses conno.^[9]
• 15th century – The Pataffio uses the word.^[5]
• Before 1910 – cunnilinguo is recorded.^[2]
• 1956 – cunnilingio is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary, obsolete, vulgar) The vulva, the external female genitals.^{[3][4][12][13][1]}

Related words

• Latin cunnus
• French con

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1065
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 322
12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli