coso

Forms

coso m (plural cosi, diminutive cosino or cosetto)^[1]

Etymology

It is a masculine noun made from cosa (“thing”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} Meyer-Lübke sets it beside French chose used as a masculine, ⟨le chose⟩, for a name that one has forgotten, and beside the Italian verb cosare, which stands for a verb that one cannot find;^[6][7] DEI makes the same comparison with French.^[6][7] The feminine noun goes back to Latin causa (“cause, matter”).^[6]

DELI and GRADIT date the word to before 1535, in Francesco Berni;^[2][4][7][3] DEI gives 1607, in a text from Pistoia, and Nocentini the 16th century.^[2][4][7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Berni, before 1535, for an object that one cannot or will not name.^[2][4] The GDLI quotes the exchange: “Ch’er’egli infine? – Er’un dificio, un coso” (“What was it in the end?” – “It was a contraption, a thingamajig”).^[8]

Semantic evolution

Later writers use it for objects that are strange, ugly or hard to identify: Francesco Redi writes of having received a letter “entrovi quel coso stampato in Rimini” (with that printed thing from Rimini inside).^[8][9] Tommaseo notes that, applied to a person, the word is always contemptuous and more vulgar than familiar,^[9] and DEI also records the figurative, scornful sense “man, person”.^[7]

The use for a person whose name one does not remember, often written Coso, is found in Moravia and Testori, and the GDLI added it in its 2009 supplement.^[10][1] Diminutives are cosino and cosetto, and colloquially the word is also a euphemism for the penis.^[11][1]

Timeline

• Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses coso for an unnamed object.^[2]
• 1607 – DEI's date, in a text from Pistoia.^[7]
• 2009 – The GDLI supplement records coso for a person whose name is not remembered.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (colloquial) thingamajig, an object whose name one doesn't know, can't recall or doesn't want to say: a che serve questo coso con le rotelle?^[4][5][12]
2. (colloquial) A person whose name one can't remember or won't say, often written Coso: ho incontrato Coso, quello del terzo piano.^[4][1][13]
3. (colloquial, derogatory) An ugly, odd-looking or badly made thing or person: chi è quel coso antipatico al bancone?^[4][5][14]
4. (slang) The penis.^[1]

Word family

• cosino
• cosetto

Related words

• cosa
• cosare
• Latin causa
• French chose

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1132
8. ^ 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, 888
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli