imboccare

Forms

imboccare (first-person singular present imbócco, first-person singular past historic imboccài, past participle imboccàto, auxiliary (transitive or intransitive) avére or (intransitive only) èssere)^[1] The TLIO records the forms Old Italian enboccar and Old Italian 'mbocche.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian in- + bocca + -are, with the prefix meaning “into”: to put into the mouth.^[3][4][5][6] Devoto describes it as a verb made from the noun with an illative prefix.^[7] The DEI, the GDLI and Gabrielli instead trace it to a Vulgar Latin *imbuccāre from Latin bucca, and Wiktionary allows both explanations.^{[8][9][10][1]} Medieval Latin imbuccare is recorded from the 10th century of a river flowing out, and imboccatorium named the mouth of a canal at Osimo in the 16th century.^[8]

The same formation is Romanian îmbuca, Old French embochier, French emboucher, Spanish embocar, Portuguese embocar and Catalan embocar.^[11][12][1]

The Latin noun first meant “puffed cheek” and only later, in familiar speech, “mouth”, replacing Latin ōs.^[13][14] Its origin is uncertain: a Celtic source has been suspected because of the similar Latin beccus (“beak”) and Gaulish personal names, and the IEW compared it with Proto-Germanic *puhô (“bag, pouch”).^[14][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Florentine poet Chiaro Davanzati, of the second half of the 13th century.^[2] DELI's first dated sense, from Matteo Villani (before 1363), is “to feed someone who cannot eat by himself, putting the food into his mouth”: a prisoner was kept bound for days and fed by others.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

From feeding, the verb passed early to the figure of “spoon-feeding” someone with words: before 1388 Antonio Pucci uses it for coaching or prompting a person in what to say.^[3][2] Old Italian also used it for seizing with the mouth and, figuratively, for taking an idea into the mind, as in Dante's Or vo' che tu mia sentenza ne 'mbocche (“now I want you to take in my opinion”).^[2][15] Tommaseo records the proverb Chi per altrui mano s'imbocca, tardi si satolla, “whoever is fed by another's hand is slow to be full”.^[16]

The senses of entering a passage grew from bocca as “opening”: Dante already has the intransitive “to fit into”, and in the 17th century the verb meant “to flow into, end in” (1680) and “to go into an entrance or a road” (before 1685).^[3] Putting a wind instrument to the lips is recorded from Algarotti (before 1764).^[3] In military language the verb came to mean hitting an enemy gun port or embrasure with a shot.^[17][18]

Today the main senses are feeding a child or a sick person and turning into a road or an exit; the latter is used figuratively of taking a course in life.^[5][6] English borrowed the verb as the rare military embock (1598), “to stop the mouth of a cannon”.^[19]

Timeline

• Second half of the 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses the verb.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the intransitive “to fit into”.^[3]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses it for feeding a person.^[3]
• Before 1388 – Antonio Pucci uses it for prompting someone.^[3]
• 1598 – English embock is recorded in a military sense.^[19]
• 1680 – G. Zambeccari uses it intransitively for “to flow into”.^[3]
• Before 1685 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for entering a place or passage.^[3]
• Before 1764 – Francesco Algarotti uses it for putting a wind instrument to the lips.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To feed someone who cannot eat unaided by putting the food into their mouth: la nonna imbocca il nipotino con il cucchiaio.^[5][6][18]
2. (transitive, figurative) To prompt or coach someone in what to say or do; the same as imbeccare.^[5][6][18]
3. (transitive, music) To put a wind instrument to the lips in order to play it: imboccare il flauto.^[5][17][6]
4. (transitive) Of a horse, to take the bit into its mouth.^[5][17]
5. (transitive) To enter or turn into a road, passage or opening: abbiamo imboccato la tangenziale.^[5][6] Also figurative, of taking a course: imboccare la strada sbagliata.^[5][6][20]
6. (transitive, military) To hit an enemy gun port, embrasure or loophole with a shot.^[5][17][18]
7. (transitive, literary) To take into the mind; to learn.^[5][17][18]
8. (intransitive) Of a road or river, to lead or flow into (with in): il vicolo imbocca in una piazzetta.^[5][15][20]
9. (intransitive) Of a part or tool, to fit into another: il tappo non imbocca bene.^[5][6][15]

Word family

• imboccatura
• imbocco
• imboccata
• imboccatore
• rimboccare

Related words

• sboccare
• bocca
• imbeccare
• Latin bucca

Usage notes

In the intransitive senses the auxiliary is avere or essere, and the compound tenses are rare.^[1][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 216
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1941
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 7, 1100
14. ^ 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
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
17. ^ 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
18. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
19. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
20. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli