gabbiano

Forms

gabbiano m (plural gabbiani)^[1]

Etymology

It is a Romance formation: it is from Latin gāvia (“gull”) with the suffix -ano.^[2][3][4] DELI takes it as an augmentative of an unrecorded ⟨*gabbia⟩ from the Latin word.^[5] Devoto explains the ⟨bb⟩ through a Vulgar Latin *gavja, with ⟨v⟩ doubled before the glide, as in gabbia.^[6]

With the same suffix the word is Occitan gabian and Portuguese gaivão, and with another Spanish gaviota.^[2][7][1] The plain Latin word survives in the south, in Palermitan aipa and Neapolitan gaifa.^[8][7] Another gull name, gavina, is from the same source.^[8][9]

Latin gāvia is in Pliny.^[7] Its origin is uncertain: the OLD takes it as probably imitative, and DELI and the GDLI call it expressive.^[10][5][11] Nocentini derives it from the personal name Gavius, common in the Oscan area, as people gave common names to animals they saw every day.^[2] De Vaan, as Wiktionary reports him, prefers Proto-Indo-European *gowh₂-i- (“shouter”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a letter of Francesco Redi of 1669, which says the gabbiano, in Tuscany also called mugnaio, is the bird that circles around sea ports and that naturalists call Larus maior.^[5][12]

Semantic evolution

The name stayed with the whole family of gulls, and naturalists distinguish many kinds, such as the black-headed gull (gabbiano comune) and the herring gull (gabbiano reale).^[4][13][3] The diminutive gabbianello, the little gull, is recorded from 1856.^[2][13]

As a word for a simple or foolish person gabbiano is recorded by Tommaseo and the Crusca, and used by Brofferio.^[12][9][14]

Timeline

• 1669 – Francesco Redi describes the gabbiano in a letter.^[5][12]
• 1758 – Linnaeus names the genus Larus.^[7]
• 1856 – Gabbianello is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gull, seagull: a sea or lake bird with long wings, webbed feet, a hooked bill and mostly white and grey plumage.^{[3][4][15][13]}
2. (zoology) The common name of many birds of the family Laridae, especially of the genus Larus: gabbiano reale, gabbiano corallino.^[3][4][13]
3. (figurative) A simpleton, a fool.^[3][12]

Word family

• gabbianello

Related words

• gavina
• Latin gavia
• Spanish gaviota

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ 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
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1744
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 475
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ 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)
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 519
15. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli