naviglio

Forms

naviglio m (plural navigli)^[1] Older forms are Old Italian navilio and Old Italian navile, and navigio was also used for the ship.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *nāvilium, a form of Latin nāvigium (“vessel, boat”) with a change of suffix.^{[5][6][7][8][1]} Zingarelli, Treccani and Gabrielli derive it directly from the Latin noun with the suffix changed,^[2][3][4] and Devoto thought it was associated with the Italian collectives in -iglio, perhaps through a northern tradition.^[9] Meyer-Lübke instead took it from Old Occitan navili (“fleet”), the word that is also Old French navilie and modern French navire.^[10][11][12] The learned doublet is navigio.^[1][3]

The Latin noun is formed from nāvigō (“to sail”) with -ium, from nāvis (“ship”).^[1][13] De Vaan derives the word for ship from Proto-Indo-European *neh₂-u- (“ship”), probably “the floating one”, the source also of Ancient Greek ναῦς (naûs).^[14]

The sense “canal” grew out of the older word in the Middle Ages.^[5][3] DELI finds Medieval Latin ⟨navilium⟩ for a canal at Parma in 1255; the GDLI places the 1255 record at Padua and adds ⟨naviglium⟩ at Belluno in 1379.^[15][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is navilio “a fleet of ships” in Guidotto da Bologna: si può danno dare o per oste o per navilio, “harm can be done by an army or by a fleet”.^[15][12] The sense “boat, vessel” follows in another 13th-century text.^[15]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century navilio was the usual word for a fleet in the chronicles of Villani: tutto 'l navilio de' Pisani si partirono di Sardigna, “the whole Pisan fleet left Sardinia”.^[16][12] In modern Italian the word is chiefly a collective for the ships of one kind or use, as in naviglio mercantile or naviglio da guerra, and its use for a single boat is uncommon.^[6][8][3]

The canal sense entered Italian with Filarete, who died before 1465.^[15] It belongs to the north: Panzini's dictionary in 1905 quoted Cherubini's Milanese dictionary for the name of the navigable canals that link the Lake Maggiore, Lake Como, the Adda and the Ticino.^[15] The Naviglio Grande, dug in the 12th and 13th centuries, brings water from the Ticino to Milan.^[12] German borrowed the word as Naviglio or Navilio for a ship in 1515, and later used it for a canal.^[17]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Guidotto da Bologna uses navilio for a fleet.^[15]
• 13th century – Navilio is recorded for a single vessel.^[15]
• 1255 – Medieval Latin navilium names a navigable canal.^[15][12]
• Before 1465 – Filarete uses naviglio for a canal.^[15]
• 1515 – German Navili “ships” is recorded.^[17]
• 1905 – Panzini records the Lombard canal sense.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. (uncommon) A ship or boat.^[6][7][2][1]
2. (archaic) A fleet.^[6][7][2]
3. The ships or boats of one type or purpose taken together: naviglio mercantile, naviglio da pesca, naviglio da guerra.^[6][8][3]
4. (northern Italy) A large artificial canal, navigable and also used for irrigation, as in Milan.^[6][7][8][3]

Related words

• nave
• navigare
• navigio
• Latin navigium
• French navire

Usage notes

In the canal sense the word is part of proper names, such as the Naviglio Grande, the Naviglio della Martesana and the Naviglio di Brenta.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
12. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
17. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it