grugnire

Forms

grugnire (first-person singular present grugnìsco, first-person singular past historic grugnìi, past participle grugnìto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The older forms are grognire^[2][3] and the Genoese grognir,^[4] and Old Italian also had a first-conjugation grugnare.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin grunnīre (“to grunt”), a form of grundīre.^{[7][3][8][9][10]} Its /ɲ/ is explained in different ways.^[11][12][13] DEI sees an analogical remaking on the Latin first person singular,^[11] Zingarelli and Gabrielli a cross with a Vulgar Latin *grunniāre,^[12][14] and Sabatini–Coletti the influence of grugno,^[13] a noun that DELI itself derives from the verb.^[2]

The same verb is Old French grondir, Occitan gronhir, Catalan grunyir, Spanish gruñir and Portuguese grunhir.^[7][10][1]

The Latin verb imitates the grunting of the pig.^[7][8][1] Nocentini holds that the sound pattern is inherited from Indo-European, comparing Old High German grunnizōn and German grunzen,^[7] and Wiktionary sets the Latin word beside Ancient Greek γρῦ (grû, “grunt of swine”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the form grognir in the Genoese poet known as the Anonimo Genovese, before 1311, meaning to grunt and, figuratively, to grumble.^[4] In Tuscan Italian DELI first finds grognire in Giovan Francesco Straparola, 1550–1553, where a piglet comes home grognendo and tells his mother that he wants to marry.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The form grugnire is first recorded in Alessandro Allegri, who died in 1629.^[2] Writers apply it to other animals too: Annibal Caro has bears and boars that grugnire among roaring lions and howling wolves, and in Nannini's translation of Olaus Magnus a seal grunts like pigs.^[9]

The figurative use for people, who speak in an unpleasant or improper way, is dated to Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi, before 1873, and the transitive “to mutter something” to Salvator Rosa, before 1650.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1311 – The Anonimo Genovese uses grognir.^[4]
• 1550–1553 – Straparola writes grognire.^[2][3]
• Before 1629 – Alessandro Allegri uses grugnire.^[2]
• Before 1650 – Salvator Rosa uses the verb transitively.^[2]
• Before 1873 – Guerrazzi uses it of people speaking rudely.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of a pig or wild boar, to grunt.^{[3][8][15][1]}
2. (intransitive, figurative) Of a person, to grumble or make guttural, unintelligible sounds: Quando si sveglia non parla, grugnisce.^{[3][8][13][1]}
3. (transitive) To mutter something gruffly: grugnì un buongiorno.^[3][8][12]

Word family

• grugnito
• grugnitore

Related words

• grugno
• grugnare
• Latin grunnio
• French grogner

Usage notes

It conjugates with -isc- (grugnisco, grugnisci) and takes avere.^[8][12][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 534
6. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ 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. 7, 80
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1877
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana