giaciglio

Forms

giaciglio m (plural giacigli)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *iacilium, formed from iaceō (“to lie”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Meyer-Lübke and others start from *iacile (“resting place”), used in the neuter plural.^{[7][8][9][10]} Treccani explains that noun as made on the model of cubīle (“bed”), with a later change of suffix.^[11] Devoto sees a double suffix: -ile, as in the noun for “bed” beside cubō (“to lie down”), followed by a further -ium.^[12]

The same base gave Spanish yacija,^[7][8][9] and in Trentino it names the beams on which barrels rest.^[9][7]

The Latin verb for “to lie” is the stative verb beside iaciō (“to throw”): “to lie” is “to have been thrown down”.^[13] There was Proto-Italic *jak-ē- (“to lie down”) beside *jak-i- (“to throw”).^[13][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Zanobi da Strata, who died in 1364, with the sense of a wretched little bed or a heap of rags or straw.^[14][3]

Semantic evolution

The Tuscan translation of Gregory the Great's Moralia speaks of the saints rejoicing in their giacigli and, figuratively, of the giaciglio della mente, the resting place of the mind.^[15] The TLIO reads these as a refuge or den and as the innermost part of something, but takes the text as one of the doubtful records.^[16] Salvini uses the word for a serpent's lair, and Carena defines it in the 19th century as a place or thing to lie on, almost a bed, but a poor one.^[15][6]

In Manzoni's Promessi sposi the 1827 edition has Renzo stretching out on the giaciglio that Providence had prepared, a word the final edition replaces with letto.^[6] In literary use the word can mean simply a bed, and it also names a dog's or other animal's bed.^[5][11]

Timeline

• Before 1364 – Zanobi da Strata uses giaciglio.^[14][3]
• 1827 – The first edition of Manzoni's novel has giaciglio where the final edition has letto.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A makeshift or poor bed, often a heap of straw or rags: un giaciglio di foglie secche.^[3][4][5][1]
2. (literary) A bed.^[5][17]
3. The bed of a dog or another animal, a kennel or lair.^{[3][4][5][18]}

Related words

• giacere
• letto
• giacitoio
• covile
• Spanish yacija

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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 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 e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
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, 755
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1801
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 499
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli