guaina

Forms

guaina f (plural guaine)^[1] Old forms include guadina, Old Italian guagina, Old Italian gueina, Old Italian guena and Old Italian vaina.^[2] The word is Venetian vazina.^[3]

Etymology

DELI and Nocentini take it as inherited from Latin vāgīna (“sheath, scabbard”), with the initial /w/ treated like that of Germanic loanwords, which Italian renders as ⟨gu⟩, as in guado, from Latin vadum.^[4][5][1][6] GRADIT instead sees a borrowing, borrowed from Old French guaine, recorded from the early 13th century, from a Latin variant of the word with initial /w/ under Frankish influence, and Zingarelli from Old Occitan guaina.^[7][8] Meyer-Lübke asked whether the ⟨g⟩ came from Frankish *wāgi (“vessel”).^[3]

The same word is French gaine, Occitan guaina, Spanish vaina and Portuguese bainha; it is pan-Romance except in Romanian.^[5][3][9] vagina, the learned doublet, is the anatomical term.^[5][10][1]

The only sure comparison for the Latin noun, according to Nocentini, is Lithuanian vóžti (“to cover, wrap”), which would make the first meaning “cover”; de Vaan calls the proposal gratuitous.^[5][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Sienese poet Ruggieri Apugliese, from the middle of the 13th century, for a sheath for blades, usually for knives or swords.^[2] DELI dates the sense “scabbard” to Bonvesin de la Riva, before 1315, and to the translation of Albertano of about 1300 (guaina non fa né buono né reo lo coltello, “the sheath makes the knife neither good nor bad”).^[4][12]

Semantic evolution

The botanical sense, the base of a leaf that wraps the stem, is in the 14th-century translation of Cicero, and the TLIO also has the pod round a seed.^[4][2] Rimettere la spada nella guaina meant to stop hostilities.^[12][8] Later senses came from the shape: a close-fitting garment replacing the corset (before 1590, Santa Caterina de' Ricci), a thin membrane wrapping an organ (1663, Lorenzo Magalotti), a hem through which a ribbon is passed (1846, Carena) and the insulating sleeve of an electric cable (1940, Emilio Cecchi).^[4] Physics later used guaina catodica for the glow on the cathode of a discharge tube.^[13]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – Ruggieri Apugliese gives the TLIO's first record.^[2]
• About 1300 – Guaina “scabbard” in the translation of Albertano.^[4]
• 14th century – The botanical sense, in the translation of Cicero.^[4]
• Before 1590 – A close-fitting garment, in Santa Caterina de' Ricci.^[4]
• 1663 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses the word for a membrane.^[4]
• 1846 – Carena records the hem for a ribbon.^[4]
• 1940 – Emilio Cecchi uses it for the insulation of cables.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sheath or scabbard for a blade: a sword, dagger or knife.^[7][14][10]
2. Any close-fitting cover or case, especially the insulating sleeve of electric cables.^[7][14][15]
3. A girdle: a woman's elastic undergarment that shapes the waist and hips;^[7][10][15] a guaina, close-fitting: un vestito a guaina.^[7][10][15]
4. (anatomy) A membrane wrapping an organ, a muscle, a tendon or a nerve: guaina mielinica (myelin sheath).^[7][10][15]
5. A casing hem through which a cord, ribbon or elastic is passed.^[7][10][16]
6. (botany) The base of a leaf that wraps the stem.^[10][8][14]
7. (building) A waterproofing sheet with a bitumen base.^[14]

Word family

• inguainare
• sguainare
• ringuainare
• guainante
• guainato
• guainella

Related words

• vagina
• French gaine
• Latin vāgīna

Usage notes

The stress falls on the i (/ɡwaˈina/); /ˈɡwaina/ is widespread but considered incorrect.^{[15][14][10][1]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1881
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli