motta

Forms

motta f (plural motte)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][1] Most dictionaries take it as a pre-Latin word.^[2][3][4][5] Devoto–Oli and Devoto give it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *mut(t)a, from a Mediterranean stem that also survives in the name of Latin Mutina, today's Modena.^[6][7] Nocentini, who treats the sense “mound” separately, derives it from the same pre-Latin base, also the source of mucchio, and compares French motte, Occitan mota (“hill”) and Spanish mota (“clod”).^[8] DEI also sees a relic of the Mediterranean substrate in the senses “rise of ground, mound”.^[9]

For the sense “landslide” Nocentini and DEI start instead from *movita (“movement”), the noun use of the feminine of *movitus, an analogical participle of Latin moveō (“to move”) in place of classical mōtus.^[8][10][11] They compare French meute, originally “uprising, expedition”, Occitan mouta (“signal, ringing of bells”) and Catalan mota (“troop”).^[8][11] Körting and Meyer-Lübke tie the northern words for “clod, mound” to a Germanic word, and Meyer-Lübke finds that source unlikely in meaning for the Italian “landslide”.^[12][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI finds the word in 1270 at Modena for a fortified height and in 1280 at Treviso as mota, a rise of ground.^[9] Nocentini dates the sense “heap of earth, mound” to the 13th century, and GRADIT dates the word, with the sense “landslide”, to the first half of the 14th century.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

In the northern dialects the word means a heap, a hillock or a mound; in Venice it is also the ridged sand of the Lido and a heap of pebbles in a riverbed, hence an artificial island in a fishing lagoon.^[9][3] It lives on in place names such as Motta Visconti and Motta San Giovanni.^[8][6] Tommaseo already linked the “landslide” sense with smotta, which became the usual word.^[13] The derivatives smottare and smottamento date from the 16th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 1270 – The word is recorded at Modena for a fortified height.^[9]
• 1280 – Mota “rise of ground” is recorded at Treviso.^[9]
• First half of the 14th century – The sense “landslide” is recorded.^[2][8]
• 15th century – At Ravenna motta is the start of a horse race.^[10]
• 16th century – Smottare and smottamento appear.^[8]
• 1873 – Smottatura is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A landslide of rock and earth; a block of rock or a mass of debris fallen from a mountain.^[2][6][3]
2. A small rise of ground on a slope or a plain.^[2][6][14]
3. (regional, Veneto) A heap of gravel or sand in a riverbed; a river islet.^[2][6][4]
4. (regional, Veneto) An artificial island in a fishing lagoon, with the keeper's house.^[2][6][3]
5. (regional, northern) A large clod.^[4]

Word family

• smottare
• smottamento
• smottatura
• ammottare

Related words

• mucchio

Usage notes

The GDLI has three minor words of this spelling: a Pisan and Viareggio word for a flock of water birds or a shoal of fish, from Late Latin *movita; an obsolete motta “riot”, from Old French meute; and an old motta “start of a horse race”, a variant of mossa.^[15][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2521
10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2520
11. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ 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, p. 11