modiglione

Forms

modiglione m (plural modiglioni)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *mutiliōnem, a diminutive of Latin mutulus (“bracket, projecting stone”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Wiktionary gives the form as a variant of *mūtuliōnem.^[1] The Latin word was a technical term of architecture, probably borrowed from Etruscan.^[2][7][1]

The word spread from the north: the ⟨d⟩ for Latin ⟨t⟩ and the oldest records point there.^[2][8] DEI compares Friulian modeon and Piedmontese mudiùn (“bracket”), and Venetian mothulione (“beam”), recorded at Chioggia in 1271.^[9][10] Prati also allowed a derivation from Vulgar Latin *mūtellus through a form in -ello.^[11]

From Italian come French modillon, Spanish modillón and Portuguese modelhão.^[3][9][10] The English word modillion came through French and Italian.^[12][9] The Latin word itself survives in mucchio and in Spanish mojón (“boundary stone”).^[10][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin modilione is recorded at Venice in 1134.^[2] The first Italian record is in Serlio, before 1555, where the front of a fireplace's architrave has a modiglione or cartella, an ornamental bracket.^[2][13]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the vocabulary of Renaissance architecture: Citolini lists the modiglioni among the parts of the Ionic cornice, and Palladio describes the roses carved between them.^[13][14] In Galileo's notes on Vitruvius the modiglioni under the drip moulding grow out of the projecting rafters, as the triglyphs grow out of the beams.^[14] GDLI describes it as a bracket in series under the cornice, which came from the mutule of the Doric entablature, appeared in Greek architecture about the 1st century BC, stayed constant in the Corinthian and Composite orders and took very varied forms in Renaissance and Baroque cornices.^[13] Soderini also uses it for a support or pillar.^[9][11]

Later the name passed to the S-shaped element of 16th-century furniture.^[4][6][3] French took the word as modiglion in 1545, and English as modiglions in 1563.^[12]

Timeline

• 1134 – Medieval Latin modilione is recorded at Venice.^[2]
• 1271 – Mothulione “beam” is recorded at Chioggia.^[9]
• 1545 – French borrows the word as modiglion.^[12]
• Before 1555 – Serlio uses modiglione.^[2][4][12]
• 1563 – English modiglions is recorded.^[12]
• 1566 – Mellini uses the word.^[9][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (architecture) A modillion: in the Corinthian order and later in other cornices, a small bracket with double side volutes and an acanthus leaf underneath, set in a row to support the corona of the cornice.^{[4][5][6][15]}
2. An S-shaped element, structural or ornamental, found especially in 16th-century furniture.^[4][6][3]

Related words

• mucchio
• Latin mutulus
• French modillon

Usage notes

The Italian Wiktionary gives modione as another name for it.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 285
9. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2484
10. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 670
12. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
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, p. 10, 667
14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org