crespo

Forms

crespo (feminine crespa, masculine plural crespi, feminine plural crespe)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin crispus (“curly, curled”).^[2][3][4][1] The same Latin word gave Old French cresp, Occitan cresp, Catalan cresp, Spanish crespo, Portuguese crespo and Logudorese krispu.^[3][5] The noun French crêpe comes from the Old French adjective.^[3][5]

The Latin word continues Proto-Italic *krispo-.^[6] Many scholars started from an older ⟨*kripso-⟩, because of the Celtic cognates Welsh crych and Breton crec'h “curly, wrinkled”.^[6][7] Devoto compared vespa, from ⟨*vepsa⟩.^[8] Schrijver showed, however, that the two sequences give the same result in British Celtic, so de Vaan prefers an Italo-Celtic ⟨*kris-po-⟩ of the same root as crīnis (“hair”) and crista (“crest”).^[6][3] Wiktionary mentions a tentative link with Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Fiore (1280–1310), a Florentine text, in the sense “with small, close waves”.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used crespo for curly hair and beards, for wrinkled skin, for wool and animal hair, for pleated fabric and clothing, and for leaves and stems that are not smooth.^[9] Boccaccio describes hair that was crespi e lunghi e d'oro (“curly and long and golden”).^[10] Petrarch addresses the breeze around hair bionde e crespe (“blond and curly”).^[11] Vasari used the word for “gathered, pleated” in 1550.^[2] In literary use the sea is crespo when the wind ruffles it.^[12][13]

As a noun, crespo names a fine fabric with a crinkled, grainy surface, from Rota before 1575.^[2] It is made with strongly twisted yarn, and is also called by the French name crêpe.^[14] By extension it named the black crêpe veil or band worn for mourning.^[4][13] The derivative crespa “wrinkle” is recorded before 1332, and crespella in the 13th century.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1280–1310 – The Fiore has the adjective, the first record.^[2][9]
• 13th century – The derivative crespella is recorded.^[3]
• 1314 – Francesco da Barberino uses Medieval Latin crespatus.^[2]
• Before 1332 – Alberto della Piagentina uses crespa “wrinkle”.^[2]
• 1550 – Vasari uses crespo for “gathered, pleated”.^[2]
• Before 1575 – Rota uses the noun for the fabric.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of hair, closely waved, frizzy, curly: una chioma crespa e scura.^{[4][15][12][13][1]}
2. Having a wavy or crinkled surface, of fabric, paper or leaves.^[4][15][13]
3. (literary) Of the sea or a lake, ruffled by small waves.^[12][13][16]
4. (literary) Of skin, wrinkled.^[4][15][13]

Noun

1. crêpe, a fine fabric of strongly twisted yarn with a crinkled surface.^{[4][15][12][13]}
2. A veil or scarf of this fabric, or a black band worn on the arm or hat or tied to a flagpole, as a sign of mourning.^[4][13][14]
3. (rare) The crespigno, sow thistle.^[17]

Word family

• crespa
• crespato
• crespatura
• crespella
• crespello
• crespigno
• increspare
• increspatura

Related words

• cresta
• crine
• French crêpe
• Latin crispus

Usage notes

Common combinations are carta crespa (crêpe paper), lattuga crespa (curly lettuce) and velo crespo.^[4] The fabric is also called crêpe, with the French name.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
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, p. 123
9. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 964
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ 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
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli