narice

Forms

narice f (plural narici)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian narigie, and the old plural was sometimes invariable.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *narīcae, a Vulgar Latin plural derived from Latin nāris (“nostril”), plural nārēs.^[3][4][5][6] The plural was taken as a singular, and the Italian singular was formed from the plural.^[3][7] DEI points to Latin narīcēs of the glosses, perhaps from a singular narīca.^[8] Wiktionary gives Late Latin nārīcem.^[1] The Zingarelli calls it a learned word.^[9]

The same base gave Friulian naries, Piedmontese naris, Spanish narices and Portuguese narizes, and in Spanish and Portuguese nariz and nariz mean “nose”.^[10][3]

nāris goes with Latin nāsus (“nose”), from Proto-Italic *nās- and Proto-Indo-European *Hneh₂-s- (“nose”), the source of Lithuanian nósis and Old English nasu.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the first genuine record to Matteo Bandello (1536–1544), in the sense of each of the two openings of the nose through which air enters the airways.^[12] Bandello tells of a youth who was scratched on the nostril while learning to fence.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The 14th-century quotations of Fra Giordano and of a Libro della cura delle malattie that the Crusca, Tommaseo and the GDLI print are forgeries, so DELI rejects them.^[12][13] DEI's date in the 14th century and the Zingarelli's “before 1463” are earlier than DELI's.^[8][9] GRADIT dates the word before 1544.^[6]

The word is mostly used in the plural.^[8][13] In comparative anatomy it names the openings by which the nasal cavities of vertebrates open to the outside or into the palate (the internal nostril, or choana), and for the horse the falsa narice is a fold of skin inside the nostril.^[14][6] Carducci's sonnet Il bove describes the ox's breath steaming from its broad, wet nostril.^[14]

Timeline

• Before 1463 – The Zingarelli's date of first record.^[9]
• 1536–1544 – Matteo Bandello uses narice.^[12]
• Before 1544 – GRADIT's date of first record.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) A nostril, each of the two openings at the base of the nose through which air enters and leaves: Respirava a narici spalancate.^{[6][15][4][1]}
2. (comparative anatomy) Each of the openings by which the nasal cavities of a vertebrate open outward or into the palate.^[5][14]

Word family

• trinariciuto

Related words

• nari
• naso
• Latin nāris
• Spanish nariz

Usage notes

Falsa narice is the fold of skin inside a horse's nostril.^[6][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2547
9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ 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)
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse