cutrettola

Forms

cutrettola f (plural cutrettole)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian cutretta + -olo: the older name of the bird with the diminutive suffix in its feminine form.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The older word comes from the phrase Late Latin cauda trepida (“trembling tail”), from cauda (“tail”) and trepidus (“restless, trembling”), after the way the bird keeps wagging its tail.^[2][3][6][7] Nocentini sees a reshaping of the form with cōda.^[8] Prati adds the influence of culo and of the suffix -etta.^[9]

Devoto–Oli and Wiktionary take the Latin phrase as a calque of Ancient Greek σεισοπυγίς (seisopugís), “shake-tail”.^[4][1] Tommaseo, comparing the Greek word, thought it might give the first syllable another origin.^[10]

The Latin word for “tail” goes back to Proto-Italic *kaudā, perhaps from a root meaning “cleaved, separate”, the same as in cūdō (“to beat”).^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in A. Simintendi, before 1333, for the small songbird of the wagtail family.^[2][12]

Semantic evolution

Burchiello wrote of a cutrettola that came “a minacciar al letto colla coda” (to threaten him in bed with its tail), and Firenzuola of someone melting with sweetness “come una cutrettola”.^[10] Luigi Pulci still had the older cutretta.^[9]

The bird has many other names: ballerina, batticoda, coditremola, monachina, and the popular cuccutrettola and scuccutrettola.^[9] Its quick, lively movements made it a term of comparison for a restless, graceful girl or woman.^[4][6][13] The verb scutrettolare, “to wiggle, to sway the hips”, is recorded from 1873.^[8]

Timeline

• Before 1333 – A. Simintendi has the first record of cutrettola.^[2][12]
• 1873 – Scutrettolare is first recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava), a slender bird of meadows and pastures with a long, constantly moving tail, thin pointed beak, grey-brown back and yellow belly.^{[3][4][14][1]}
2. Any of several other wagtails, also called ballerina or batticoda.^[4][6][5]

Word family

• scutrettolare

Related words

• coda
• trepido
• ballerina
• batticoda
• coditremola
• Latin cauda

Usage notes

In comparisons it describes lively, restless agility: dimenarsi come una cutrettola, vispa come una cutrettola.^[4][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 360
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli