gamba

Forms

gamba f (plural gambe, diminutive gambétta or gambìna or gambìno m, augmentative gambóna or gambóne m, pejorative gambàccia, endearing-derogatory gambùccia)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin gamba (“hock, leg of a horse”), a word of the 4th-century veterinary writers Chiron, Pelagonius and Vegetius, where manuscripts often spell it ⟨camba⟩.^[2][3][4] It was borrowed from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ, “bend, joint”), from κάμπτω (kámptō, “to bend”).^[3][2][1] The voicing of the first consonant is frequent in words taken from Greek.^[5][6] DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance *camba with a secondary variant *gamba.^[6]

From the language of horse breeders the word spread to the human leg and drove out the classical Latin crūs, which has no Romance descendants.^[3][2] DELI notes that the reasons for this complete victory are unclear, and that elsewhere Latin perna (Iberia, Gascony) and Latin ancus (southern Italy, Sardinia) took the place of the old word.^[2][4] Romance cognates are French jambe, Occitan camba, Catalan camba and Sardinian camba;^[3][7] the forms with /k/ in Occitan and Ibero-Romance keep the variant closer to Greek.^[3] A proposed Gaulish source has no proof behind it.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in a glossary from Monza of the 10th century, for the part of the leg from the knee to the foot.^[2][9][10] Restoro d'Arezzo applies it to the limbs of animals in 1282.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old Italian the word could mean the whole lower limb, and many phrases formed around it, such as fino a mezza gamba “to the knee” and con le gambe incrociate “cross-legged”.^[9] Dante writes of walking “con le gambe avvolte” (with tangled legs), like one overcome by wine or sleep.^[8] From about 1340 gamba named the leg or support of an object, from before 1590 the vertical stroke of a letter or note, and, from 1887 the leg of trousers or stockings.^[2]

Viola da gamba, the bass viol held between the knees, is recorded in the 17th century and passed into English as viol da gamba (1597) and into French as viole de gambe.^[4] The phrase in gamba “fit, capable” dates from the 16th century and was borrowed as French ingambe.^[4] The derivatives include gambo “stalk” (before 1320), gambale “legging” (1526), gambetto “trip”, which also named a chess opening, and gambizzare “to kneecap” (1978).^[2][3]

Timeline

• 10th century – The word appears in the Glossary of Monza.^[2][9]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses it for an animal's leg.^[2]
• c. 1340 – A translation of Palladius uses it for a support.^[2]
• 16th century – In gamba “fit, able” is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1590 – Zarlino uses it for a vertical stroke.^[2]
• 1597 – English viol da gamba is recorded.^[4]
• 1978 – Gambizzare is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. leg, each of the two lower limbs of the human body: Dopo la corsa mi fanno male le gambe.^{[10][11][12][1]}
2. (anatomy) The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle, the shank.^[10][11][13]
3. The leg of an animal.^[10][12]
4. The leg of a pair of trousers or of a stocking.^[10][2]
5. A leg or support of a piece of furniture or another object: Una gamba del tavolo è rotta.^[10][12][1]
6. The vertical stroke of a letter or of a musical note.^[10][12]
7. Each arm of a pair of compasses.^[10]

Word family

• gambo
• gambale
• gambaletto
• gambetto
• sgambetto
• gambiera
• gambizzare
• sgambettare
• sgambato

Related words

• gambata
• gambetta
• coscia
• viola da gamba
• French jambe

Usage notes

Essere in gamba means to be fit, or to be capable and enterprising.^[13][14] Other set phrases are darsela a gambe “to run away”, prendere sotto gamba “to underestimate”, a gambe levate “at full speed” and fare il passo più lungo della gamba “to overreach oneself”.^[13][10][15] A gamba that was a kind of monkey, from a Brazilian word, is recorded in an old travel book.^[16]

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 k l m n 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
5. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 1580
6. ^ a b Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 567
9. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca