limaccia

Forms

limaccia f (plural limacce)^[1] Forms in the TLIO include Old Italian limaçça, Old Italian limaçe and Old Italian lumaccia.^[2] Old Lombard had Old Italian limazza in the 13th century, and similar forms live on in Piedmont, Liguria, Trentino and Verona.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *limācea, a derivative of Latin līmax (“slug, snail”).^[4][5][6][7] DELI notes that the derived form is recorded only in Medieval Latin of the 9th century, and that it replaced the classical accusative limācem in much of the Romance area.^[4] DEI cites the Medieval Latin limatius of the 9th century and calls the Italian word chiefly northern.^[3]

The same derivative is French limace, Old Occitan limatz and Spanish limaza.^[3][5] The plain Latin noun gave lumaca.^[8][5]

Wiktionary takes the Latin noun from Ancient Greek λεῖμαξ (leîmax), from Proto-Indo-European *sleh₁y-m-.^[1] The OLD compares the Greek word without calling it the source.^[9] Devoto sees a western Indo-European word of the type *(s)lei-, also kept in Baltic and Slavic.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first records are a Pisan translation of Ruffo's treatise on horse medicine, from the end of the 13th century, and Dante's Commedia (before 1321), in the sense “snail, slug”, the same as lumaca.^[2] DELI's first date is later: Guiniforto Barzizza, before 1463.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the phrase avere paura della limaccia meant to be timid beyond reason.^[2] DELI reports a Medieval Latin limacia in a Chirurgia attributed to Agrippa, and DEI dates Agrippa's use to 1553.^[4][3]

Modern zoology narrows the word to the slugs of the family Limacidae, with a rudimentary shell or none, also called lumaconi.^[6][7][11] In popular use it is still a synonym of lumaca.^[12][13][14]

Timeline

• 9th century – Medieval Latin limatius is recorded.^[3][4]
• 13th century – Old Lombard limazza is recorded.^[3]
• Late 13th century – A Pisan translation of Ruffo's Mascalcia has the word.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante's Commedia.^[2]
• Before 1463 – Guiniforto Barzizza uses limaccia for the snail.^[4]
• Before 1930 – GRADIT dates a second limaccia, a thick oily liquid.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) A slug: a land gastropod of the family Limacidae, with a long body and a rudimentary shell or none.^{[6][7][11][1]}
2. (popular) A snail; the same as lumaca: Le limacce hanno mangiato tutta la lattuga.^[12][14][13]

Related words

• lumaca
• lumacone
• Latin limax
• French limace

Usage notes

Lumaccia is an old variant.^[15][1] GRADIT and the GDLI have a second, literary limaccia (before 1930), a thick oily liquid mixed with dregs, which the GDLI calls a learned word from Latin limaceus (“muddy”).^[6][16] The GDLI quotes Fracchia for the last drops of limaccia in a lamp.^[6][16] Tommaseo also records limaccia as a pejorative of lima, a file that no longer cuts.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2231
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 73
17. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 2, 1852