lancia

lancia¹ lance, spear

Etymology tree of lancia¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin lancea

Italian lancia

From the same root · lancia¹

Latin lanceō ← lancea

Pronunciation

• /ˈlan.t͡ʃa/^[1]

Forms

lancia f (plural lance)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian lanza and Old Italian lança.^[2][3][4] The old plural was lanci beside lance.^[4][5]

Etymology

The word for the lance is inherited from Latin lancea (“lance”).^[3][6][7][1] The GDLI alone calls it a learned word.^[8] It is found in the western Romance languages, as French lance (the source of German Lanze), Occitan lansa, Spanish lanza and Portuguese lança, but not in Romanian.^[6][9][10] From Old French it also passed into Middle English launce and, around 1200, Middle High German lanze.^[10]

The Latin word is itself a foreign word, like the weapon it named.^[3][11] Varro thought it Spanish, while Festus compared Ancient Greek λόγχη (lónkhē, “spearhead”).^[10][11][1] Most modern scholars take it from Celtic: the ancients credited the Gauls with bringing the weapon, and with it its name.^{[6][3][7][11]} Wiktionary allows a Celtiberian source and, more doubtfully, a link with Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- (“to hit”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Libro of Uguccione da Lodi, from the early 13th century (Cremona).^[2] DELI cites lanza in Giacomo da Lentini and lancia in the Mare amoroso, both of the 13th century, for the weapon: a long shaft with a pointed iron head.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Already in the 13th century the word could stand for the warrior or knight who carried a lance, and for armed forces as a whole.^[3][2] Old Italian also used it for the yard of a sail, for a piercing pain, for the sting of a mosquito and, figuratively, for the male organ.^[2] In late medieval armies a lancia was a mounted man-at-arms;^[12] Filippo Villani wrote that the English were the first to bring to Italy the custom of grouping horsemen “sotto il nome di lance” (“under the name of lances”).^[12] The lance spezzate were picked soldiers who guarded a prince; the phrase was borrowed into French as anspessade.^[12][9]

The phrases con la lancia in resta (“with lance couched”) and spezzare una lancia (“to break a lance”) go back to medieval combat and tournaments, where a knight broke his opponent's lance in honour of his lady; today the second means to speak up for someone.^[3][4] The word was later applied to a harpoon for tuna and dolphins (15th century) and, in the 20th century, to the nozzle of a hose.^[3] The diminutive lancetta became the surgeon's lancet and, from 1566, the hand of a clock.^[3]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the word.^[2]
• 13th century – Giacomo da Lentini writes lanza; the Mare amoroso has lancia.^[3]
• 13th century – The Cronica fiorentina uses it for a knight armed with a lance.^[3]
• 14th century – Lanciere “lancer” appears in a vernacular Livy.^[3]
• 15th century – Brancati has lancze da piscare, fishing harpoons.^[3]
• 1566 – Lancetta is used for the hand of a measuring instrument.^[3]
• 1869 – Lancieri is recorded as the name of a dance like the quadrille.^[3]
• 1957 – The sense “nozzle” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lance or spear: a long shaft with a sharp metal point.^{[7][13][14][1]}
2. (history) In the Middle Ages, a knight armed with a lance.^{[7][13][14][4]}
3. A harpoon for catching tuna, dolphins and other large fish.^{[7][13][14][4]}
4. The pointed tip of each bar of a metal railing or gate.^[7][14][15]
5. A nozzle: a metal tube through which a liquid is forced out under pressure, as on a fire hose.^{[7][13][14][1]}
6. A long, thin kind of flare.^[7]

Word family

• lancetta
• lanciere
• lanceolato
• lanciaio
• lanciata
• lanciotto

lancia² launch, ship's boat

Pronunciation

• /ˈlan.t͡ʃa/^[1]

Forms

lancia f (plural lance)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the boat has two explanations.^[6][3] Nocentini, following Schweickard, takes it as borrowed from Portuguese lancha, a shortening (by 1553) of Portuguese lanchara (1514), which comes from a Malay word for a small, fast boat of the eastern seas, derived from Malay lanǧar (“to go quickly”).^[6] Spanish lancha (1587) was also taken from the Portuguese word.^[3] Corominas argued strongly for this Iberian origin, and DELI notes that the first Italian record is in a translation of a Portuguese book, and that the derivative lanciara appears in Serdonati's translation (1589) of Maffei's history of the Indies.^[3]

DELI itself, with Devoto–Oli, Sabatini–Coletti, Treccani, Gabrielli and the GDLI, derives it from lancia¹, for the boat's slender prow and its speed, comparing the old boat name saetta “arrow”.^{[3][13][14][12][16][8]} Meyer-Lübke also took it from the word for the lance, and the Portuguese word from Italian, though he cited Baist's opposite view.^[9] GRADIT calls the origin uncertain.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zaccaria found the word first in Ulloa's Italian version (1561) of the Asia by J. de Barros, written in Portuguese.^[3][6] DELI's own first dated record is a letter of A. Zambeccari to Cardinal Barberini, quoted by Guglielmotti (1642), for a rowing boat of five to eight benches with a square stern.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In 1678 Du Cange noted that the Italians called a light, swift ship lancia (“Itali lancia vocant navem expeditam et celerem”).^[3] The lancia became the boat that served a larger ship, rowed, sailed or later motorized, used to carry officers and passengers ashore, between ships, or in rescues;^[8] Guglielmotti wrote that a warship never had fewer than four.^[8] The lancia di salvataggio, fitted with air tanks to keep it afloat, is recorded from 1939–40.^[3] The motor launch is a motolancia.^[12][10]

Timeline

• 1514 – Portuguese lanchara is recorded.^[6]
• 1553 – Portuguese lancha is recorded.^[6]
• 1561 – Lancia appears in Ulloa's Italian translation of Barros.^[3][6]
• 1587 – Spanish lancha is recorded.^[3]
• 1589 – Serdonati uses the derivative lanciara.^[3]
• 1642 – A letter quoted by Guglielmotti describes the boat.^[3]
• 1939–1940 – Lancia di salvataggio “lifeboat” is recorded in Palazzi's dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A launch: a light, fast boat with a square stern and pointed bow, rowed or motorized, used to carry people and for a ship's services: lancia di salvataggio, a lifeboat.^{[7][13][14][15][1]}

Word family

• motolancia