manica

Forms

manica f (plural maniche)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian maneca, Old Italian manega and Old Italian manicha.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin manica (“sleeve”), a derivative of manus (“hand”).^[3][4][5][1] In Latin the word was used mostly in the plural, manicae (“sleeves; handcuffs”).^[3][6] Wiktionary explains it as the feminine of an adjective formed with the suffix -icus, used as a noun, and compares pedica.^[1] The Latin word for the hand goes back to Proto-Italic *manu-, from Proto-Indo-European *mon-u- (“hand”).^[6]

The word is found across the Romance languages: French manche, Occitan manega, Catalan manega, Portuguese manga, Sardinian màniga, Romansh manga and Romanian mânecă.^[4][7] Meyer-Lübke traces mancia (“tip, gratuity”) to Old French manche, from the courtly custom of ladies giving their long sleeves to knights as a gift.^[7]

In the old military sense “troop of soldiers on the flank of an army” it is a calque of Spanish manga.^[8][9][10] DELI explains that the term first named a body of musketeers or arquebusiers set at the corners or front of the square of pikemen, because they stood out from it like the sleeves of a garment; it had no negative tone at first.^[3] The Spanish source is supported by the texts in which the word first appears, all translated from Spanish or dealing with Spain, although the Spanish word is recorded in this sense only in 1611.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Matasala di Spinello of 1238, in the sense “the part of a garment that covers the arm”.^[3] A passage quoted by the GDLI speaks of money “for two pairs of sleeves of Madonna Moscada” (per due paia di maniche di madona Moscada).^[11] In 1291 a text uses the word, probably for the part of a suit of armour that protected the arm.^[3] Old Italian sleeves were sometimes made and sold apart from the garment, and the word could also mean the handle of a knife, sickle or sword, like manico.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the sleeve the word passed to things of the same shape: a flexible tube for water or air (before 1597), with the diminutive manichetta for a small hose (1614),^[3] and in the 16th century a founder's furnace.^[12] A manica a vento is a ship's ventilator that brings air below deck and, at airports, the windsock that shows the direction of the wind.^[13]

The pejorative sense “band, gang” of the 17th century (before 1705) grew out of the military term; the same development is found in Argentine Spanish.^[3] The mezze maniche were the black oversleeves worn by clerks to protect their jackets, and the phrase came to mean a humble office worker.^[10][9] An old proverb, Quel che non va nelle maniche, va nei gheroni, says that what is saved in one place is spent in another.^[14][10] In architecture a manica is a wing of a monumental building.^[15][5]

Timeline

• 1238 – First record, in the Matasala di Spinello, for the sleeve of a garment.^[3]
• 1291 – Used, probably, for the arm piece of a suit of armour.^[3]
• 1566 – Ulloa uses it for a body of arquebusiers on the flanks of an army, after Spanish manga.^[12]
• Before 1597 – Soderini uses it for a light tube for water or air.^[3]
• 1602 – The diminutive manichetta is first recorded.^[3]
• 1611 – Spanish manga is recorded by Covarrubias in the sense “troop”.^[3]
• Before 1705 – Cattaneo uses it in the pejorative sense “band, gang”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. sleeve: the part of a garment that covers all or part of the arm: Si è macchiato la manica della camicia di sugo.^[5][9][16]
2. (historical) The part of a suit of armour that protected the arm.^[5][13][17]
3. (by extension) A flexible hose or tube for water or air;^[13][17] manica a vento, a ship's ventilator or a windsock.^[13][17]
4. (in the plural) mezze maniche: oversleeves once worn by clerks;^[5][17][9] (figurative) a low-ranking clerk.^[5][17][9]
5. (historical, military) A body of soldiers on either flank of an army.^[5][16]
6. (colloquial, pejorative) A gang or bunch of people: una manica di bugiardi.^[5][16]
7. (metallurgy) A founder's furnace, wide at the top and narrow at the base.^[16]
8. (architecture) A wing of a monumental building.^[5][15]

Word family

• manicotto
• manichetta
• soprammanica
• sottomanica
• ammanicarsi
• smanicare

Related words

• mano
• manico
• Latin manus

Usage notes

Common idioms are avere l'asso nella manica “to have an ace up one's sleeve”, essere di manica larga “to be lenient” and di manica stretta “strict”, rimboccarsi le maniche “to roll up one's sleeves, set to work”, in maniche di camicia “in shirtsleeves” and è un altro paio di maniche “that's another matter”.^[13][17][9] With a capital and the article, la Manica is the English Channel.^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
9. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 666
12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2347
13. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
16. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana