mordace

Forms

mordace m or f by sense (plural mordaci)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin mordax (“prone to bite, biting”), from mordeō (“to bite”) with the suffix -āx.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} Devoto compares audāx (“bold”) from audeō (“to dare”).^[7] Wiktionary instead treats it as inherited from the Latin accusative.^[1]

The Latin verb is an iterative present with the o-grade of the root, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mord-(e)ie- (“to crush, bite”).^[8] Its cognates include Ancient Greek ἀμέρδω (amérdō, “to deprive of”) and Old English smeortan (“to hurt”).^[8]

Romance has nouns for tongs from the Latin word: French mordache and Spanish mordacilla.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Giamboni, before 1292, is the first to use it, of animals “ready to bite”: man suffers from all biting and all venomous animals.^[2][5][10]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “harsh, caustic, cutting” is recorded before 1364 in Zanobi da Strata.^[2] Boccaccio calls Cerberus mordacissimo, and later writers use the word of wild beasts, snakes, otters and fierce dogs.^[10] Ariosto's fly attacks the mastiff negli occhi and nel grifo mordace (“in the eyes and in the biting snout”).^[11][12]

Other senses grew from the idea of biting: tongs that grip hard, in Buonarroti's Fiera; a sharp taste, in the Ricettario fiorentino; a corrosive urine, in Redi.^[13] The senses “sharp-tasting” and “corrosive” are now obsolete.^[5] In mechanics the word became a noun for the soft-metal plate that protects a workpiece in a vice.^[14][15][11] The noun mordacità is recorded from the 14th century;^[4] French mordacité appears in 1552.^[4]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Giamboni uses mordace of biting animals.^[2][10]
• Before 1364 – Zanobi da Strata uses it in the figurative sense “caustic”.^[2]
• 14th century – Mordacità is recorded.^[4]
• 1552 – French mordacité is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary) Ready to bite, biting easily: un cane mordace legato alla catena.^{[15][16][12][11]}
2. (uncommon) Of a tool: gripping hard; of a liquid: corrosive: una tenaglia mordace, un acido mordace.^[15][16][11]
3. (figurative) Of a person or of what they say or write: caustic, sarcastic, cutting with malicious criticism: un commento mordace sul nuovo film.^{[15][16][12][5][11]}

Noun

1. (mechanics) A piece of soft metal, such as lead or copper, put between the jaws of a vice and a finished workpiece so that it is not damaged.^{[15][16][12][11]}

Word family

• mordacità
• mordacemente

Related words

• mordere
• mordente
• morso
• Latin mordax

Usage notes

The adverb mordacemente is used only in the figurative sense.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2507
5. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 288
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. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ 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, 888
11. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 10, 889
15. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier