nocchio

Forms

nocchio m (plural nocchi)^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed: for DELI, following Alessio, it is inherited from Latin nucleus (“kernel”), which also meant the hard round part of various things, as in Pliny's nucleus terrae.^[2] Nocentini agrees, from the hard part of a fruit to the hard swellings of a tree and the vertebrae.^[3] Diez also proposed this, and Körting found the link of meaning easy.^[4][5] nucleus is a diminutive of nux (“nut”).^[3][1][6]

Meyer-Lübke, Zingarelli and Gabrielli derive it instead from Late Latin nōdulus (“small knot”), a diminutive of nōdus (“knot”), and the GDLI calls this probable, with the influence of nucleus or nocca.^[4][7][8][9] Devoto, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti see a crossing of the two Latin words.^[10][11][12] DELI finds Regula's idea of occhio blended with nodulus unconvincing.^[2] Treccani and others think of Lombardic knohhil, and Wiktionary of a derivative of Proto-West Germanic *knokkō, beside gnocco.^[13][9][1] GRADIT calls the origin uncertain.^[14]

The sounds are part of the problem: Meyer-Lübke noted that ⟨cchi⟩ from ⟨dl⟩ is unusual and that the open ⟨o⟩ needs explaining.^[4] Nocentini puts the vowel down to the nouns in ⟨-òcchio⟩, and Devoto to a northern origin.^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word before 1310.^[14] DELI's first record is Dante, before 1321, for a knot in the wood of a plant; in the Inferno he asks how the soul is bound in questi nocchi, in these knots.^[2][15] A poem attributed to Cino says there is no wood of knots so strong that Love could not pierce it.^[9]

Semantic evolution

From the knot in wood the word spread to other hard lumps: the 1733 Crusca records the hard spots in fruit, and the knobs of the back, the vertebrae, are i nocchi della schiena.^[2][14][7] Poliziano's fir tree grows straight and sanza nocchi.^[9][15] Botany later used it for a woody swelling grown from a dormant bud under the bark, also called mazzocchio.^[13][12][15]

Archaic and technical senses are the kernel of a woody fruit, and in veterinary use an overgrowth of the lower face of a horse's third phalanx.^[14][11] The adjective nocchiuto, full of knots, appears before 1470 in Pulci.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1310 – GRADIT's date for the first record.^[14]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses nocchio for a knot in wood.^[2]
• Before 1470 – Pulci uses nocchiuto, knotty.^[2]
• 1733 – The fourth Crusca records the sense of a hard spot in fruit.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) A knot or burl in the trunk or a branch of a tree: Questa tavola è piena di nocchi.^{[14][11][12][13][1]}
2. A lump or swelling: i nocchi della schiena, the vertebrae, and i nocchi dei frutti, hard spots in the flesh of fruit.^[14][11][7]
3. (archaic) The kernel of a woody fruit such as the hazelnut or almond.^[14][11]
4. (veterinary) An overgrowth on the lower face of the third phalanx of a horse.^[14][11]

Word family

• nocchiuto
• nocchieroso
• nocchioso
• nocchiolino

Related words

• nucleo
• nodo
• nocca
• gnocco
• Latin nucleus

Usage notes

A regional nocchio, recorded from 1965, means the hazelnut or the hazel tree; it is a masculine of nocchia and so a separate word.^[14][9][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2592