micio

Forms

micio m (plural mici, feminine micia)^[1]

Etymology

It is an imitative word of children's and family speech, from a call for the cat or the sound of its voice.^[2][3][4][5] The notes to Lippi's mock-epic Malmantile (1731–50), quoted by DELI, already explained that small children call the cat so because the word is easy to say and the animal readily answers its sound.^[2] The same call is Catalan mix, Spanish micho and Romanian miț.^[3][6] The old language also had Old Italian mucia, Old Italian muscia and Old Italian mucino.^[7]

A different view is given by Wiktionary, which derives the word from a southern form like Neapolitan muscio, from Late Latin mūsiō (“cat”);^[1][8] Körting had connected both the Neapolitan and the Tuscan word with it, with a query.^[1][8] Isidore of Seville took the Latin word from mūs (“mouse”), because cats catch mice, an explanation Wiktionary calls unreliable.^[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI records the feminine micia in Florio's dictionary (1598) and the masculine in Oudin (1640) and in Lorenzo Lippi (before 1665), for the house cat.^[2] Zingarelli dates micio to before 1584, and DEI the feminine to the 16th century.^[10][11]

Semantic evolution

Sacchetti has a woman call her cat muscina, muci, muci.^[7] The word belongs to familiar speech, both as a name and as a call (micio, micio!).^[12][9] Tommaseo records stare in barba di micio, to live in comfort, like a cat that has eaten its fill and licks its whiskers.^[9] Affectionate forms such as micino and micione are used between people who love each other, and micio itself as an epithet, especially for a man.^[12][4]

Timeline

• 16th century – micia is recorded in Bini.^[11]
• 1598 – Florio's dictionary has micia.^[2]
• 1640 – Oudin records micio.^[2][4]
• Before 1665 – Lorenzo Lippi uses micio.^[2]
• 1731–50 – the notes to the Malmantile explain the word as a sound children use for the cat.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (familiar, children's language) Cat, pussycat, the house cat: Il micio dorme sul divano.^[4][13][14]
2. (figurative) An affectionate name for someone, especially a man one loves.^[4]

Word family

• micino
• micione
• miciona
• micetto

Related words

• micia
• gatto

Usage notes

The feminine is micia.^[13][14] GRADIT lists a separate regional micio (before 1734, origin unknown), the Tuscan name of steatite, the soft white stone tailors use to mark cloth, in pietra di micio and polvere di micio, the powder used to take grease stains out of fabric.^[4][12][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 661
8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2451
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca