cravatta

Forms

cravatta f (plural cravatte)^[1] Older forms are croatta (1673), crovatta (1675) and corvatta (1706), the last still a Tuscan variant.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French cravate, recorded in French in 1651, properly “Croat”, since the neckband was part of the dress of Croatian horsemen.^[2][5][6] French took the name from German Krawat, a dialect variant of Kroate, which adapts Serbo-Croatian Hrvat (“Croat”).^[7][8] Prati dates the fashion in France to 1636, when the French fought in Germany and the Croatian cavalry there wore a strip of white linen round the neck.^[9] Devoto–Oli and the GDLI connect it with the Croatian troops of Louis XIV, the regiment ⟨Royal-Cravate⟩.^[4][8]

The variants with ⟨o⟩ follow the Italian names of the Croats, ⟨Crovatti⟩ and ⟨Corvati⟩.^[9] The French word also passed into Spanish corbata, Portuguese gravata and English cravat.^[10][11] Wiktionary calls the word a doublet of croato.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is croatta in F. Nazari, 1673, for the neckwear knotted under the collar.^[2][5] L. Magalotti wrote crovatta in 1675, and the form cravatta appears in Veneroni's dictionary in 1707.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Through the 18th and 19th centuries cravatta named a strip of fine cloth worn round the neck, knotted in front or tied in a bow.^[8][12] Ugo Foscolo disliked it and said it looked like a noose.^[8] Diminutives followed: cravattino, a short bow tie (1853), and cravattaio, a maker or seller of ties (1893).^[2]

In 1853 the word also named the ribbon tied to the staff of a military flag.^[2] Since 1918 it has also named a hold round an opponent's neck in wrestling and other sports.^[2] Technical senses grew from the shape: a ring clamp, a lashing in ship rigging, an orthopaedic brace for the neck.^[5][13] Popular fare cravatte means to lend money at usury.^[9][4][14]

Timeline

• 1651 – French cravate is first recorded.^[2][5]
• 1673 – F. Nazari writes croatta.^[2]
• 1675 – L. Magalotti writes crovatta.^[2]
• 1706 – Corvatta appears in Esercizi militari.^[2]
• 1707 – Veneroni's dictionary has cravatta.^[2]
• 1853 – D'Ayala records the sense “ribbon on the flagstaff” and the diminutive cravattino.^[2]
• 1893 – Cravattaio is recorded.^[2]
• 1918 – The sporting sense, a neck hold, is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. necktie, tie: a strip of cloth passed under the shirt collar and knotted in front: una cravatta a righe.^[5][4][3]
2. By extension, any scarf knotted round the neck.^[5][3]
3. (military) The blue ribbon tied at the top of the staff of the national flag carried by a unit.^[5][4][6]
4. (technology) A ring-shaped clamp that holds one part to another or keeps it from loosening.^[5][6][3]
5. (nautical) A lashing of rope round two objects or two cables.^[4][13][14]
6. (medicine) An orthopaedic brace that supports the cervical spine.^[5][6][15]
7. (sport) In wrestling and water polo, a hold round the opponent's neck.^[5][6][3]
8. (printing) A rule separating the heading of a table from its body.^[5][3]

Word family

• cravattino
• cravattaio
• incravattare
• incravattato
• cravattaro
• cravattificio

Related words

• croato
• French cravate

Usage notes

Common combinations are cravatta a farfalla (bow tie) and cravatta alla lavallière, a large floppy bow of the 19th century.^[4][13] Fare cravatte (to be a loan shark) is popular and figurative.^[4][14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 344
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1147
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c 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 Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana