lazzo

lazzo¹ jest

Etymology tree of lazzo¹

inherited borrowed derived

Spanish lazo

English lasso

Italian lazzo

Pronunciation

• /ˈlat.t͡so/, /ˈlad.d͡zo/^[1]

Forms

lazzo m (plural lazzi)^[1] The earliest form is lazo, with a single /z/.^[2][3]

Etymology

The word for the comic routine has no agreed origin.^[2][4][5] Nocentini thinks it most likely borrowed from Spanish lazo (“snare; trick, invention”), the figurative sense of the word for a snare, as Paolo Minucci already suggested in his notes to Lippi’s poem: it would have been borrowed in the comic theatre of the 16th century, when Spanish ⟨z⟩ was still a voiced sound.^[3][6] DELI reports the same view from Zaccaria, who points to the dates: his many examples begin in the second half of the 17th century.^[2] Minucci himself had objected that this word was said with a soft /dz/, unlike the adjective “sharp” with a hard /ts/;^[2] DELI does not find this decisive, because Spanish ⟨z⟩ was rendered in Italian with the voiced sound until the 16th century and later.^[2]

Others derive it from Latin āctiō (“act, action”), written in the scenarios of the commedia dell’arte, with the article grown onto the word.^{[7][8][9][10]} Pieri proposed this, comparing the Chianti dialect word azzo (“grimace”), and Meyer-Lübke and Körting cite him.^[11][12] Wiktionary sets up a *l’azzo from the Latin nominative, as in other words from Latin forms in -tiō.^[1]

Further proposals listed by DELI are a northern lazzo “snare”, a by-form of laccio (Hall, 1939), a crossing with razzo, “a sparkling act” (Devoto), a Germanic word for “actor” (Lazzarini, 1977), dialect outcomes of Latin asilus (Lurati, 1981) and a Greek word for “exchange” (Alessio, 1983).^[2] DELI leaves the question open.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears as lazi e scherzi in Venetian verse by Boschini in 1660.^[2][10] Before 1665 Lippi has lazo in Tuscan, in “the lazo of the Spanish rogue”, which Minucci’s notes of 1688 explain as the rogue’s trick, adding that lazo and lazeggiare had come to mean any action of comic actors.^[2][13]

Semantic evolution

At first lazzi were the comic business of stage buffoons.^[13] In the commedia dell’arte the term settled on a short, mainly mimed scene that an actor could insert at will to liven the action and break the monotony of the dialogue.^[10][4][9] By extension it came to mean any buffoonish act or remark, often coarse;^[14][4][7] Tommaseo’s dictionary records tenere il lazzo and reggere al lazzo “play along with a joke”.^[14][4][7]

The word passed into French as lazzi (1700), with a second sense “mockery”, and into German as Lazzo (1808–09), mostly in the plural Lazzi.^[15]

Timeline

• 1660 – Boschini writes lazi in Venetian.^[2][10]
• Before 1665 – Lippi uses lazo in the Malmantile.^[2]
• 1688 – Minucci’s notes to the Malmantile explain lazo and lazeggiare.^[2]
• 1700 – French lazzi is first recorded.^[15]
• 1808–1809 – German Lazzo is first recorded.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. (theatre) In the commedia dell'arte, a short improvised scene, mostly mimed, that breaks the dialogue and livens the action.^[4][6][5][7]
2. By extension, a buffoonish act or witty remark, often vulgar: Lo spettacolo era tutto frizzi e lazzi.^[4][6][16]

Word family

• lazzeggiare

lazzo² sharp, tart

Etymology tree of lazzo²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin lac

Latin lacteus

Italian lazzo

From the same root · lazzo²

Latin lacteō ← lac

Latin lactūca ← lac

Pronunciation

• /ˈlat.t͡so/^[1]

Forms

lazzo (feminine lazza, masculine plural lazzi, feminine plural lazze)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a sharp taste is probably inherited from Latin lacteus (“milky”).^[2][3][4][1] Salvioni explained it from the plant name Vulgar Latin *herba lactea “milky herb”, a spurge (Euphorbia characias), called erba lazza in Italian for its milky juice; the plant’s harshness would have extended the word to anything sharp in taste.^{[2][3][13][11]} Medieval Latin vinum lacteum, recorded at Venice in 1300, supports the sense.^[17][4] Prati also allows that the plant name was formed from the adjective.^[13]

Pieri had seen in it Latin acidus (“sour”), with the article grown onto the word, as sozzo comes from Latin sūcidus;^[2][12] Körting gives the same.^[2][12] The learned doublet is latteo.^[1][5] The Latin adjective is formed from lac (“milk”) with the suffix -eus.^[18][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Iacopone, who died in 1306, uses lazzo in the sense “unpleasant”.^[2] The sense “sharp in taste” is in Dante’s Inferno (1300–13), of the fruit of the sorbo: tra li lazzi sorbi / si disconvien fruttare al dolce fico “among the sour sorbs it is not fitting for the sweet fig to bear fruit”.^[2][4][7]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio, the anonymous Pataffio and others use the word of the sorb, as Dante did.^[2][10] Landino explains that in Florentine lazo means a taste that is both harsh and very astringent, as in the sorb fruit, and the Tuscan translation of Crescenzi says that cornels are by nature very sour and lazze.^[2][10][14] Lazzezza “sharpness of taste” appears in the 15th century.^[19]

The adjective became literary.^[4][6] A rare transferred use is “shrill” of a sound, as in Pascoli’s lazzo cigolio of a cart.^[9][5] The word survives in Corsican làzzu “slightly sour”.^[19]

Timeline

• 1300 – Medieval Latin vinum lacteum is recorded at Venice.^[19][4]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses lazzo “unpleasant”.^[2][4]
• 1300–1313 – Dante has li lazzi sorbi in the Inferno.^[2]
• 15th century – Lazzezza is recorded.^[19]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary) sour, tart and astringent in taste, especially of unripe fruit.^[4][6][5][7]
2. (rare, literary) shrill, of a sound.^[6][5][7][1]

Word family

• lazzezza