foce

Forms

foce f (plural foci)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian focie, Old Italian fossie and Old Italian fuce.^[2] The old Venetian form fuosa meant the mouth of a harbour, as deep water.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin fōcem, a popular variant of Latin faux (“throat; narrow passage”) with /au/ reduced to /o/.^[5][1][3] Isidore of Seville records the popular form, in a note on narrow mountain passes named after throats.^[6][7] The learned doublet is fauci, taken from the Latin plural.^[8][5] The inherited word once also had the anatomical sense but then narrowed to its other meanings.^[8][5][1]

The same Latin variant survives in Sardinian foghe, Friulian fos, Occitan foz, Spanish hoz and Portuguese foz.^[4][5] The Latin noun already meant a river mouth as well as a gorge or strait.^[4][7] Its origin is unknown.^{[9][5][10][11]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in the TLIO is a Sienese document of 1277–1282.^[2] DELI's first example, from Malispini, has the main sense, the place where a river enters the sea: a fleet arrived “alla foce del Tevero” (at the mouth of the Tiber).^[8][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian foce was any opening where something enters or leaves: the entrance of a harbour, a meeting of waters, a narrow pass between rocks, and the throat itself, where the plural foci was the same as fauci.^[2][12] Dante has a rich range of uses: the mouth of the Arno (faccian siepe ad Arno in su la foce), the Strait of Gibraltar as quella foce stretta, the circles of Hell and the passages between the terraces of Purgatory, and the points of the horizon where the sun rises (Surge ai mortali per diverse foci / la lucerna del mondo).^[6][13][14]

The anatomical sense was out of use by Tommaseo's time.^[12] In parts of the Apennines foce still names a narrow gap between rock walls: a notch in a ridge in the north, a river gorge in the Abruzzi.^[13][15] In geography it has become the term for a river mouth, with the types foce a delta and foce a estuario.^[14][13] The verb sfociare was formed in the 18th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1277–1282 – Foce appears in a Sienese document.^[2]
• 13th century – Malispini's chronicle speaks of the mouth of the Tiber.^[8]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses foce for river mouths, straits and the circles of Hell.^[6][13]
• 18th century – Sfociare is formed from foce.^[5]
• 1960 – Sfocio “outlet” is first recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geography) The mouth of a river or stream, where it flows into the sea, a lake or another river: Alla foce il fiume si allarga in un delta.^[14][15][16]
2. (regional) In parts of the Apennines, a narrow passage between rock walls; a notch in a ridge or a gorge.^[15][13]
3. (archaic) The entrance of a harbour or a strait; any narrow opening or passage.^[14][15][17]
4. (archaic) In Dante, a circle of Hell, or a point on the horizon where the sun rises.^[14][13][10]
5. (archaic, chiefly plural) The throat.^[14][15][16]

Word family

• sfociare
• sfocio
• fociata

Related words

• fauci
• affogare
• Latin faux
• Spanish hoz

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 449
4. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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. 6, 88
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1673
8. ^ 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
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli