giovenca

Forms

giovenca f (plural giovenche, masculine giovenco)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian giuvenca, Old Italian çovenca and Old Italian giovenga.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin iuvenca (“heifer; young woman”), the feminine of iuvencus (“young bull; young man”).^[4][5][6][1] The Latin word was first an adjective, “young”, used of animals, and in the language of the countryside its noun use narrowed to young cattle.^[4][5] The masculine gave giovenco, and its Romanian outcome is junc.^[4][5]

The Latin noun is of the same root as iuvenis (“young”) (Italian giovane).^[4][5][7] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *juwnko- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂iu-h₁n-ḱo- (“young one, young animal”); the same formation is in Umbrian iuengar (“young cows”), Old Irish óac (“youth”), Welsh ieuanc (“young”) and Old High German jung (“young”).^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a document from Città di Castello of 1261–1272, in the sense “young cow”.^[2] DELI dates giuvenca before 1333, in Arrigo Simintendi, who writes of a heifer that has never borne the yoke or drawn the plough.^[4][10]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its rural sense, a young cow, especially one that has not yet calved.^[3][11] Boccaccio has giovenca in 1341–1342, and the poets used it in pastoral scenes: Ariosto, Chiabrera and Metastasio.^[4][10] Leopardi gives the word to Io, the daughter of Inachus, robbed of her woman's shape,^[10] and an old translation of Ovid's letters calls Helen a giovenca.^[12] In literary or joking use it now means a young woman of florid looks.^[13][14]

Timeline

• 1261–1272 – Giovenca appears in a document from Città di Castello.^[2]
• Before 1333 – Arrigo Simintendi writes giuvenca and giuvenco.^[4]
• 1341–1342 – Boccaccio uses the form giovenca.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. heifer, a young cow, especially one that has not yet calved.^[6][11][3]
2. (figurative, literary or humorous) A young woman of florid, healthy looks.^[13][14]

Word family

• giovenco

Related words

• giovane
• gioventù
• Latin iuvencus

Usage notes

The stressed vowel is pronounced both open and closed: /d͡ʒoˈvɛn.ka/ and /d͡ʒoˈven.ka/.^[1][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 832
11. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)