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coperta

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word coperta

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1230–1250, Giacomo da Lentini
Ultimate origin
Latin cooperiō

Pronunciation

  • /koˈpɛr.ta/[1]

Forms

coperta f (plural coperte)[1] The old form, still archaic and northern regional, is coverta.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is the feminine of coperto (“covered”), the past participle of coprire, used as a noun.[2][5][3][1] The verb continues Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”), and Wikizionario derives the noun directly from its participle coopertus.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Giacomo da Lentini, of the Sicilian school, around 1230–1250.[8] In DELI the first sense is figurative, “pretence, appearance, pretext”, also dated before 1250 in Giacomo.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the concrete sense of a cloth that covers something the word is recorded as coverta before 1292 in Bono Giamboni, and as coperta in 1483.[2] The bed cover, today the main sense, is first clearly attested in Vespasiano da Bisticci, before 1498.[2][9] The TLIO shows how wide the Old Italian word was: a roof or ceiling, a skin, the cloth or wooden cover over a boat.[8]

In ships the word came to mean the deck: coverta in the Italian Marco Polo early in the 14th century, coperta in Bandello in 1554, with the phrases sopra coperta and sotto coperta.[2][10] The cover of a book is recorded from 1322, and a jumping sheet used by firemen from 1973.[2] In pottery the word names a glaze for porcelain, which English borrowed in 1885;[11][1][3] German calqued the naval sense as verdöck in the 1580s, and Polish took the word as koperta, “envelope”, an old Italian sense.[11][1][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1230–1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the word for a pretext.[8][2]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses coverta for a cloth cover.[2]
  • 1322 – The Pisan Breve dell'Ordine del Mare uses coverta for a book cover.[2]
  • Early 14th century – The Italian Marco Polo uses coverta for a ship's deck.[2]
  • Before 1498 – Vespasiano da Bisticci uses it for a bed cover.[2]
  • 1554 – Bandello uses coperta for a deck.[2][11]
  • 1885 – English coperta, a porcelain glaze, is recorded.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A blanket, especially the one spread over the sheets of a bed: Mi serve un'altra coperta, stanotte fa freddo.[12][3][13]
  2. A cloth or cover put over furniture or instruments to protect them from dust.[12][3][13]
  3. (nautical) The upper deck of a ship, from bow to stern: salire in coperta.[12][3][13]
  4. (figurative) A cover for wrongdoing, or a pretext: fare da coperta a qualcuno.[12][3][4]
  5. The board cover of a bound book.[12][3]
  6. (archaic) An envelope.[12][3][13]

Word family

  • copertina
  • copertone
  • controcoperta
  • retrocoperta

Usage notes

Stare sotto le coperte means to stay in bed, and sotto coperta below deck.[3][10] The diminutive copertina is the usual word for the cover of a book or magazine.[10][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 i j k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 742
  10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  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 c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
Cite this entry

“Coperta.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/coperta. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·