occhio

Forms

occhio m (plural occhi, diminutive occhièllo, augmentative occhióne, pejorative occhiàccio, diminutive-endearing occhiétto or occhiettìno or occhìno or occhiolìno, (uncommon) occhiùccio or occhiùzzo)^[1] The oldest form is Old Italian oclo, in Gerardo Patecchio and Stefano Protonotaro.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin oclus, inherited from Latin oculus (“eye”), with the loss of the unstressed vowel: the late Latin list of corrections known as the Appendix Probi condemns ⟨oclus⟩ in favour of ⟨oculus⟩.^[2][1][3] The word is pan-Romance: French œil, Occitan uelh, Catalan ull, Spanish ojo, Portuguese olho and Romanian ochi.^[4][5] The learned oculo is its doublet.^[1][3]

The Latin noun is formed with the suffix ⟨-lo-⟩ on the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”).^[4][6][1] De Vaan notes that most Indo-European languages have a root noun or an i-stem for the eye, so the Latin formation is probably not inherited from Proto-Indo-European; the cognates include Sanskrit अक्षि (ákṣi), Ancient Greek ὄσσε (ósse, “the two eyes”), Lithuanian akìs, Old High German ouga and eye.^[6][4]

Some figurative senses are already Latin: Virgil and Columella use the noun for a bud, perhaps after Ancient Greek ὀφθαλμός (ophthalmós) in Theophrastus.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest record is the form oclo in Gerardo Patecchio (12th–13th century), for the organ of sight;^[2][7] occhio itself is in an anonymous poet before 1250.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “look, sight” is in Stefano Protonotaro (oclo, before 1250) and Guido Cavalcanti, who also uses the word for a state of mind shown in the look;^[2] Bono Giamboni (before 1292) uses it for the power to understand and judge.^[2] The transferred senses for things like an eye began in building: a Florentine text of 1291 speaks of “uno occhio per alluminare la casa” (a round window to light the house).^[2][8] Boccaccio (1341–1342) uses it for a bud, the Canti carnascialeschi (15th century) for attention, and printers from 1925 for the face of a type.^[2]

Nocentini notes how widely the word is applied to round things that stand out against their ground: the hole in a hammer, the eye of a cyclone, the spot on a bean, and occhio di bue, which can name a round window, a spotlight or a fried egg.^[4] Occhio di bue in architecture translates French œil-de-bœuf, and saltare agli occhi “to be obvious” is French sauter aux yeux (1648).^[2] Occhio per occhio comes from the law of retaliation in Exodus, spread by the Gospel of Matthew.^[2]

The plural occhiali “spectacles” is the old adjective occhiale “of the eye”, used as a noun with vetro “glass” understood.^[2][4] German has Okki (1879) for a kind of light lace worked in rosettes.^[9]

Timeline

• 12th–13th century – Gerardo Patecchio uses the form oclo.^[2]
• Before 1250 – The form occhio is recorded.^[2][7]
• 1291 – A Florentine text uses occhio for a round window.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for the power to judge.^[2]
• 1341–1342 – Boccaccio uses it for a bud.^[2]
• 1648 – French sauter aux yeux, the model of saltare agli occhi, is recorded.^[2]
• 1879 – German Okki is recorded.^[9]
• 1925 – The typographical sense is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. eye, the organ of sight; also its visible part, with the coloured iris: Mia sorella ha gli occhi verdi.^{[7][10][3][1]}
2. Sight, eyesight; a look, gaze.^[7][3]
3. (figurative) The ability to judge or notice: avere occhio per i colori.^[7][10]
4. A round hole or opening: the eye of a needle, the hole for a handle, a round window; the eye of a cyclone.^[7][4][2]
5. (botany) A bud.^[2][7]
6. (printing) The face of a type, the raised letter on the end of the type body.^[2][7]

Interjection

1. Look out!, watch out!: Occhio, arriva una macchina!^[7][1]

Word family

• occhiata
• occhiaia
• occhiali
• occhiello
• occhiolino
• occhiaccio
• occhieggiare
• occhiuto
• adocchiare
• sottocchio

Related words

• oculare
• oculo
• oculista
• oculato
• Latin oculus

Usage notes

The plural is occhi.^[1] Among many set phrases are a occhio e croce “roughly, at a guess”, a quattr’occhi “in private”, costare un occhio della testa “to cost the earth” and in un batter d’occhio “in the twinkling of an eye”.^[2][1][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w 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 d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ 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
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2622
9. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
10. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier