covile

Forms

covile m (plural covili)^[1] Old Italian forms include chovile, covil and the Latin-shaped cubile.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cubīle (“bed; lair”), formed on cubō (“to lie down”) with the suffix -īle.^{[4][5][6][1][7]} Devoto compares the pattern of sedile beside sedere, and ovile.^[8] The same Latin verb gave covare.^[4][5]

The word survives in Spanish cubil (“lair of wild animals”) and Portuguese covil, and in Logudorese cuile (“stable, sheepfold”).^[5][9][10] DEI notes that in the documents of Italy the Latin word is recorded in the 9th century with the sense “bed”.^[11] For the TLIO, the Old Italian sense “beehive” suggests a crossing with coviglio.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Jacopone da Todi, before 1306, in the figurative sense of a wretched room or bed.^[4][2][6] DELI dates the sense “place where wild animals hide and rest” only to Bartolomeo da San Concordio, before 1347.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word for the den of animals, for a hive of bees and, more generally, a nest of insects, and figuratively for one's home, homeland or refuge.^[2] The GDLI quotes Bartolomeo da San Concordio on wandering beasts that return to their lairs, and the Italian Aesop on a fox that comes back to its den and finds its young gone.^[12] Tommaseo records it also for the dog's bed, and quotes Redi for the place where a spider lives.^[13]

DEI adds a 15th-century sense “bed”, an 18th-century use for a pirates' hideout, and an 18th-century plural for the holes left in walls to hold the supports of builders' scaffolding.^[11] In modern Italian the literal sense is literary or rare beside covo and tana, and the word is used mostly of a squalid room or a miserable bed.^[3][6]

Timeline

• Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses covile of a miserable room or bed.^[4][2]
• Before 1347 – Bartolomeo da San Concordio uses it of the lair of wild animals.^[4][12]
• 15th century – The sense “bed” is recorded.^[11]
• 18th century – The plural names holes in walls for the supports of scaffolding.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sheltered place where an animal habitually rests or hides: a den, lair, covo: la volpe è rientrata nel covile.^{[6][14][15][16]}
2. (by extension) A dog's bed, kennel.^[6][3][17]
3. (figurative) A poor, dirty bed, a giaciglio.^[6][14][16]
4. (figurative) A squalid, miserable room or dwelling.^[6][15][18]

Related words

• covare
• covo
• coviglio
• cubicolo
• Latin cubīle

Usage notes

The proverb aprile, esce la vecchia dal covile says that the coming of spring draws even the old and sickly out of doors.^[16][13]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
11. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1143
12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
18. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana