granchio

Forms

granchio m (plural granchi)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian granco and Old Italian grancio.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cancer (“crab”), reached through Late Latin forms whose development is explained in different ways.^[4][5] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli, Sabatini–Coletti, the GDLI and Devoto derive it from Vulgar Latin *crancŭlus, a diminutive of the Latin word with the ⟨r⟩ moved to the first syllable.^{[6][7][8][2][9]} Wiktionary starts from *cranclus, from Late Latin *cancrulus, which is attested as Medieval Latin cancrulus.^[1]

Battisti and Alessio instead see ⟨granchio⟩ as remade from the plural of ⟨granco⟩, from the Late Latin form ⟨crancus⟩ of the Mulomedicina Chironis, itself a metathesis of ⟨cancrus⟩ (Oribasius).^[10] The LEI accepts that ⟨grancio⟩ was formed from the plural ⟨granci⟩, and Meyer-Lübke derives ⟨granchio⟩ from that plural.^[11][12] Prati rejects this, because ⟨grancio⟩ is not Tuscan, and leaves the choice open between ⟨*cranculus⟩ and ⟨granco⟩ with the ending of ⟨cervio⟩.^[13] The voicing of the initial consonant before ⟨r⟩ is not unusual in Tuscan.^[8] The learned doublet is cancro.^[1][6]

The Latin word is probably a dissimilation of an older ⟨*karkros⟩ “enclosure” (compare carcer (“prison”)), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kr-kr-o- (“circular”), since a crab's pincers form a circle; Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab”) may be related.^[14][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Jacopone da Todi, late in the 13th century;^[3][4] DELI cites Brunetto Latini's translation of the late 13th century for the crustacean.^[3][4] The GDLI quotes it: e granchi e gamberi e tutti animali e pesci crescono i loro interiori (“crabs and crayfish and all animals and fish grow their insides”, when the moon waxes).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used granchio for a sudden painful cramp, which Prati finds in Jacopone;^[3][13][10] Battisti and Alessio explain this sense by crossing with a Lombardic word for cramp.^[3][13][10] The word was used for a cancer or an ulcer, and figuratively for a miser and for a fool, as in nuovo granchio.^[3][15] The constellation and zodiac sign of Cancer was il Granchio in older Italian, as in Ariosto.^[8][16]

The sense “blunder” appears in 1558 in Annibal Caro, who speaks of errors of speech “that have been called crabs”, and granchiate in Giordano Bruno in 1582;^[4][10] Battisti and Alessio suggest the image of catching a crab instead of a fish.^[4][10] Pigliare un granchio a secco once meant to catch a finger between two things.^[4][15] The claw of a carpenter's hammer and the bench hook that holds wood for planing are named from the crab's pincers.^[16][7]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Jacopone da Todi uses granchio.^[3]
• Late 13th century – Brunetto Latini's translation uses it for the crustacean.^[4]
• 1558 – Annibal Caro uses granchi for errors of speech.^[4]
• 1582 – Giordano Bruno uses granchiate for blunders.^[4]
• 1857 – Aggranchire is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A crab: any of the decapod crustaceans with a broad flat shell, a short abdomen folded underneath and strong pincers.^[17][7][5]
2. (figurative) A blunder: prendere un granchio, to make a gross mistake.^[17][8][18]
3. The claw of a carpenter's hammer, used to pull out nails; the iron on a carpenter's bench that holds wood for planing.^[17][18][8]
4. (popular) A cramp.^[17][8][18]
5. (obsolete) The constellation Cancer.^[8][18]

Word family

• sgranchire
• aggranchire
• aggranchiare
• granchiaio
• granchiesco

Related words

• cancro
• Cancro
• Latin cancer

Usage notes

In Tuscany avere il granchio alla borsa or alle mani means to be stingy.^[17][16] Common names include granchio di fiume, the river crab, and granchio ripario, the shore crab.^[5][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1858
11. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 10, 655
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 523
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
17. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
18. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana