macchioso

Forms

macchioso (feminine macchiosa, masculine plural macchiosi, feminine plural macchiose)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian macchia + -oso.^[2][3][4][1] Zingarelli and Gabrielli take the sense “spotted” from Latin maculōsus (“spotted, stained”) instead, and Wiktionary allows either.^[5][6][1] Latin maculōsus is from macula (“stain, spot”).^[7][8]

The sense “covered with scrub” is formed on macchia in its sense of thicket, which is itself a figurative use of the word for a stain: a patch of growth on bare ground.^{[2][9][10][11]} The origin of Latin macula is uncertain; de Vaan tentatively proposes Proto-Italic *smatlo-, from a form meaning “wiping”.^[11][10][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the sense “spotted” to the 14th century, and “covered with scrub” to the first half of the 14th century.^[2] The Old Italian translation of Palladius used the word of the colours of animals' coats, and a Bible translation of red and spotted sheep and rams.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In the translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses the word renders Latin maculosus, of a spotted fleece.^[12] The sense “spotted” is now obsolete or rare, and Zingarelli gives macchiato as its synonym.^[2][5][6]

The sense “covered with scrub” is better recorded.^[9][12] Vasari praised farming that made fertile places that had been thorny, scrubby and wild.^[9] Zingarelli dates it before 1574 and DEI to the 18th century.^[5][13] Grandi wrote of hard, scrubby ground.^[9] D'Annunzio and Papini used it of the Maremma and other woods.^[9] In botany it now describes vegetation of the scrub type, as against woodland.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 14th century – Macchioso, spotted.^[2][3]
• First half of the 14th century – Macchioso, covered with scrub.^[2]
• Before 1574 – Vasari: scrubby places.^[5][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (obsolete, rare) Full of spots or stains; spotted.^[2][5][6]
2. (rare) Covered with scrub or bushes: un pendio macchioso.^[2][6][9]
3. (botany) Of vegetation, of the scrub type rather than woodland: vegetazione macchiosa.^[3][4]

Related words

• macchiato
• maculato
• Latin maculosus

Usage notes

GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli list the two senses as two words, one from macchia “stain”, the other from the same noun in the sense “scrub”.^[2][3][5] Treccani keeps them as one.^[4] The GDLI also has a sense of plants with thick, dense growth.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 365
10. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 3, 6
13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2298