macigno

Forms

macigno m (plural macigni)^[1] Old forms include the feminine Old Italian macigna (Buti) and Old Italian macingnio, and northern Old Italian masegni.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *machineus (“of a millstone”), short for a stone for making millstones.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The adjective is formed from Latin machina (“machine, device”) in its narrower sense “mill apparatus, millstone”, which also gave macina.^[5][4][6] Devoto–Oli and Devoto give the Vulgar Latin form as *macineus with the noun lapis (“stone”) understood.^[9][10]

Its northern relatives are Venetian masegna and Emilian masegna, for a millstone or a rubble stone.^[3][8][11]

The Latin noun is from Ancient Greek μαχανά (mākhanā́, “device, machine”), the Doric form of the word, borrowed early.^[12][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the chronicle of Ricordano and Giacotto Malispini, of the 13th century, in the mineral sense, a sandstone with quartz and mica: uno ponte con pietre di macigno (“a bridge of macigno stones”).^[4][13] The TLIO notes an earlier, doubtful context in Bonvesin da la Riva, Milanese, and then Dante.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante has e tiene ancor del monte e del macigno (“and still has something of the mountain and the rock”) in the Inferno (1300–1313), and uses the word for a large, very hard boulder in the Purgatorio (1313–1319).^[4][14] In Boccaccio, the stones of Settignano and Montici are those from which millstones are made.^[13][15] Landino describes it as the stone quarried on the hill of Fiesole for all the buildings of Florence.^[13]

The figurative uses follow hardness and weight: cuore di macigno “heart of stone”, duro come un macigno of a stubborn person, and pesante come un macigno of something tedious or indigestible.^[7][14][9] English took the word as a geological term ([1776] 1831), and German as Macigno (1879).^[16]

Timeline

• 13th century – The chronicle of the Malispini uses macigno for the stone.^[4]
• 1300–1313 – Dante's Inferno has del monte e del macigno.^[4]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses it for a large, hard boulder.^[4]
• 14th century – Buti has the feminine macigna.^[3]
• 1831 – Macigno is recorded in English.^[16]
• 1879 – German Macigno is recorded.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large stone; a boulder or crag.^[6][9][17]
2. (figurative) A symbol of hardness, cruelty or oppression: duro come un macigno, cuore di macigno, pesare come un macigno.^[6][9][14]
3. (figurative) A very boring piece of writing, speech or show.^[6][14]
4. (geology) A sandstone of the northern Apennines with a calcareous or clayey cement, used in Tuscany for building and for millstones.^[6][9][14]

Adjective

1. (rare) Made of macigno: pietra macigna.^[7][2]

Word family

• macignoso

Related words

• macina
• macinare
• macchina
• Latin machina

Usage notes

In petrography a compact, strong macigno is called pietra forte, a crumbly one pietra morta, and a bluish, workable one pietra serena.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2300
4. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 612
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
14. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
17. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse