cornacchia

Forms

cornacchia f (plural cornacchie)^[1] Old Italian texts spell it cornachia, cornacla, cornacia, cornagia and curnachia, among other forms.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cornācula, a popular Latin form standing for classical Latin cornīcula, the diminutive of cornix (“crow”).^[3][4][5][1] The form with ⟨a⟩ is recorded as Late Latin cornacula in a glossary, and Sabatini–Coletti and Wiktionary give the syncopated *cornacla as the immediate source.^[6][7][8][1] Meyer-Lübke and Prati, after D'Ovidio, thought the vowel might come from grāculus (“jackdaw”), while Devoto saw a crossing with a rustic stem of the same imitative kind.^[6][7][9]

The type with ⟨a⟩ also gave French corneille, Occitan cornelha, Catalan cornella and Spanish corneja.^[4][6] The classical diminutive survives in Friulian kurnil and in Engadine kornila.^[6]

DELI calls the Latin word imitative in origin.^[3] Nocentini sets it beside Latin corvus (“raven”), as Old High German hruoh stands beside hraban, and traces both pairs to an imitative Indo-European root.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the 13th-century Proverbia pseudoiacoponici, from the Abruzzo, where it names the crow.^[2] DELI dates the word to before 1292, in Bono Giamboni, who writes that crows live very long and that many people say they can foretell what will happen to a man (Cornacchie sono di molto grande vita, e dicono molti uomini, ch'elle indovinano quello che dee adivenire all'uomo).^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the crow in comparisons: for a dark-skinned person, for a chatterer, and as a bird of ill omen.^[2] DELI dates the sense “talkative, tiresome person” to before 1558, in F. d'Ambra.^[3] The verb cornacchiare “to chatter” appears in Cecchi and Varchi, and Cellini used cornacchia for a loose woman.^[7][11]

In the 18th century Salvini used the word for a door handle or ring shaped like a crow's beak, a sense the dictionaries now mark as archaic.^[12][13][14] In modern Italian the figurative use is mostly for a gossip or someone who foretells misfortune, as in cornacchia di malaugurio.^[5][13]

Timeline

• 13th century – The Proverbia pseudoiacoponici (Abruzzo) record the word.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni writes of crows as long-lived birds that foretell the future.^[3][10]
• Before 1558 – F. d'Ambra uses it for a talkative, tiresome person.^[3]
• 18th century – Salvini uses it for a door handle shaped like a crow's beak.^[12][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) crow: a bird like the raven but with a thicker, more curved beak and a rounded tail, in Italy chiefly the carrion crow and the hooded crow (cornacchia grigia); also the name of several other corvids.^[5][14][15]
2. (figurative, derogatory) A chatterbox or spiteful gossip, especially one who predicts misfortune: smettila di fare la cornacchia.^[5][14][8]
3. (archaic) A door ring or handle shaped like a crow's beak.^[5][14][13]
4. (obsolete) A prostitute.^[11][16]

Word family

• cornacchina
• cornacchiotto
• cornacchione
• cornacchiaia
• scornacchiare

Related words

• corvo
• Latin cornix
• French corneille

Usage notes

Cornacchia celeste is another name for the roller (ghiandaia marina).^[13][5] Zingarelli gives mulacchia as a synonym of cornacchia grigia.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 332
8. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 783
11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1113
13. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli