esuvia

Forms

esuvia f (plural esuvie)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin exuviae (“spoils; cast-off skin”), a plural noun formed on exuō (“to strip off”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][1]} Zingarelli notes that the verb is the opposite of induō (“to put on”), the verb behind indumento, and the OLD analyses it as ex- with the stem found in that verb.^[5][7] Latin has the matching noun induviae (“clothes”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Boccaccio's Teseida (1339–1341), where l'esuvie de' suoi primi nati (“the spoils of his first-born”) are the arms taken from enemies, glossed by Boccaccio himself as le spoglie.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

The plural esuvie, or exuvie in Latin spelling, stayed a literary Latinism for spoils taken from the enemy.^[6][2] Zingarelli dates the word to 1499.^[5] Zoology took it up for the outer layer of the skin that some animals shed whole when they moult: the horny layer of reptiles, and the exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects.^[3][6][5]

Timeline

• 1339–1341 – Boccaccio uses esuvie for spoils of war in the Teseida.^[8]
• 1499 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) The outer layer of the skin that arthropods, amphibians and reptiles shed when they moult: the exoskeleton of insects and crustaceans, the cast skin of a snake; exuviae.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}
2. (literary, in the plural) Spoils and arms taken from the enemy.^[2][6][8]

Word family

• esuviale
• esuviazione

Related words

• indumento
• spoglia
• Latin exuō

Usage notes

Zingarelli and Gabrielli also give the Latin spelling exuvia.^[5][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli