covone

Forms

covone m (plural covoni)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3][4] The usual explanation makes it an augmentative in -one from Latin cŏvus (“hollow”), an archaic form of Latin cavus (“hollow”), so that a sheaf was first what lies in the hollow of the hand.^[2][5][6][7] Nocentini takes the hollow to be the space between the reaper's arm and side, and notes that covum is recorded with the sense “sheaf” in a scholium on Virgil, while the grammarians list a form cohum for the hollow of the yoke.^[8] Medieval Latin already had covus for a sheaf at Parma in 945, cova at Verona in 1276 and covonus at Forlì in 1359.^[9][2]

The base survives in northern and central dialects: Piedmontese cöf, Emilian cov and Romagnol cof, and in Milan cova and in Brescia còa, all meaning “sheaf”.^[9][10] Meyer-Lübke set these beside Catalan cova, Spanish cueva (“cave”) and Portuguese covo (“hollow”), from the same Latin variant.^[10] Körting mentions Scheler's idea of a link with Old High German hufo (“heap”), but thought Diez's derivation from cavus more likely.^[11] Prati wondered whether the word comes from covo, which Oudin glosses with the French for “sheaf” and which in the Mugello means a large mass of ears, but found a link with the homonym meaning “lair” unclear.^[12] Tommaseo also suggested cubō (“to lie down”), from laying the bundles down on the field.^[13]

Cavus goes back to Proto-Italic *kawo-, from an older *kowó- and Proto-Indo-European *ḱouH-ó- (“hollow”).^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Italian record, in a 14th-century Florentine commentary on Ovid's Ars amatoria, uses covone for a bundle of ears of grain cut and tied together at harvest.^[15] DELI dates the word from the 14th-century Ottimo commento on Dante, which compares something to “a sheaf, or bundles of the first fruits of the coming crop”.^[2][16]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed close to the farm: the sheaf of wheat, oats or other cereals, and also of flax and hemp laid to ret in water.^[16][6] Old Bible translations used it for Joseph's dream, in which his brothers' sheaves bow down to his.^[16][13] In the dialects of Emilia, Piedmont and Lombardy the base form without the suffix means the sheaf itself, and in Pavia a handful of ears.^[10][9]

By extension it also names a stack of such sheaves, the same as bica.^[3][5] Sabatini–Coletti records a form covune from the 12th century.^[17]

Timeline

• 945 – Medieval Latin covus “sheaf” is recorded at Parma.^[2][9]
• 1276 – Medieval Latin cova is recorded at Verona.^[9]
• 1300s – Covone appears in Florentine texts, among them the Ottimo commento.^[2][15]
• 1359 – Medieval Latin covonus is recorded at Forlì.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sheaf: a bundle of ears of wheat, oats or another cereal cut and tied together at harvest: i covoni restarono nel campo ad asciugare.^[3][4][18]
2. (by extension) A stack of such sheaves; a bica.^[3][5]
3. (heraldry) A garb.^[1]

Word family

• covoncino
• covoncello
• accovonare

Related words

• cavo
• Latin cavus

Usage notes

Manna and mannello are near-synonyms for the single sheaf.^[1][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 122
8. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1143
10. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 343
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
16. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 929
17. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
18. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)