cordoglio

Forms

cordoglio m (plural cordogli)^[1] Early forms include Old Italian cordojo, Old Italian cordoglo and Old Italian corduglo.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cordŏlium (“heartfelt grief”), formed from cor (“heart”) and the stem of doleō (“to feel pain”).^[3][4][5][1] Plautus already uses the Latin word.^[6][7] Devoto, Treccani and the GDLI see it as modelled on Ancient Greek καρδιαλγία (kardialgía, “heartburn”), and Devoto compares the ending with gaudium and colloquium.^[8][9][10] Wiktionary explains the form as shortened by haplology.^[1] Leumann reconstructed a first part with a linking vowel, but Kümmel objects that such compounds are later, so a simple joining of the two stems is just as possible.^[7]

The same word is Old French cordueil, Old Occitan cordolh and Spanish cordojo.^[4][11][6] DEI notes that it lived on only in Italy, France, Provence and Spain.^[12] The Latin word for “heart” goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr (“heart”), with the stem of its oblique cases.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Elegia giudeo-italiana, from central Italy at the beginning of the 13th century, which asks who could hear of such cruelty and not feel great cordoglio.^[2][10] DELI's first dated record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, where the heart has been put ’n cordoglio (“into grief”).^[3][10] The sense in both is deep sorrow of the heart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant a state of deep distress, and also the outward show of it: weeping and the lament for the dead.^[2] Giovanni Villani writes that in Florence se ne fece cordoglio (“there was mourning for it”) with a solemn funeral, and in Boccaccio a woman nuovo cordoglio sopra la nave a far cominciò (“began a new lament on the ship”).^[13][9] Petrarch's tal cordoglio e paura ho di me stesso (“such grief and fear I have of myself”) is the classic literary example.^[13][14] The TLIO also records pity for others' suffering and remorse for a sin or a mistake.^[2] A Tuscan proverb ran ad orgoglio non mancò mai cordoglio (“pride never lacked sorrow”).^[13]

The derivatives cordoglianza and cordogliare date from the 13th century, cordoglioso from the 14th.^[12] The sense of lament has since become archaic.^[15][16] Today cordoglio is above all the grief felt for a death, often shared by a group and formally expressed to the bereaved.^[15][17] Zingarelli distinguishes it from lutto, which also names the death itself.^[17] Grief shown by a whole community is rather compianto.^[17]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – The Elegia giudeo-italiana has the first record.^[2]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses cordoglio.^[3]
• 13th century – Cordoglianza and cordogliare are recorded.^[12]
• 14th century – Cordoglioso is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. Deep grief, especially for a death, and often felt by a whole community: condolences: Il sindaco ha espresso il cordoglio della città alla famiglia.^{[14][15][16][1]}
2. (literary) Deep sorrow, affliction.^[14][15][9]
3. (archaic) Weeping, a funeral lament.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Word family

• cordogliare
• cordoglioso

Related words

• cuore
• dolere
• doglia
• dolore
• Latin cordolium

Usage notes

Both an open and a closed o are given for the stressed vowel: /korˈdɔʎʎo/ and /korˈdoʎʎo/.^[1] The old phrase fare cordoglio meant “to lament, to mourn”.^[17][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 117
9. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1106
13. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ 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
16. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli