ordigno

Forms

ordigno m (plural ordigni)^[1] Ordegno is a literary, old or regional form, and ordingo is used by Lippi.^[2][3][4] An old feminine plural le ordegna is recorded.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ordĭnium, a derivative of Latin ōrdō (“order, row”).^[6][7][8][1] The word is recorded as Medieval Latin ordinium (“household goods”) at Padua in 829 and at Camaldoli in 1018, and a Venetian document of 1271 names a cauldron or ordignum for making soap.^[6][4] Nocentini derives it from *ordiniāre (“to set in a row”), the DEI from ordināre.^[7][4]

Popular forms live on at the edges of the Romance area: Sardinian ordingiu in Sardinia, Romansh urdegn “tool” in the Engadine, and urden “sewing things” in the Surselva.^[4][9][6] That Vulgar Latin verb gave Spanish ordeñar and Portuguese ordenhar, which among shepherds took the sense “to milk”, from lining up the sheep for milking.^[7][1]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *ord-n- (“row, order”).^[10] De Vaan finds a link with artus (“joint”) and a root Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- attractive, but the extension with ⟨d⟩ it needs is not otherwise found, and the long ⟨ō⟩ is probably secondary.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dante, in the Inferno (1300–1313), promises to describe the layout of a wide, deep pit in its proper place (di cui suo loco dicerò l'ordigno): there the word means the way something is built.^[6][8][3]

Semantic evolution

From an arrangement the word passed to the device itself, a contrivance of several connected parts.^[5][6] Before firearms it named the machines of siege warfare: Busone da Gubbio speaks of devices called rams.^[5] Cavalca tells of a young man killed when the timber frame of a wine press moved and its stones fell on him.^[5] Matteo Villani, before 1363, has the figurative sense of a scheme or intrigue.^[6]

Ariosto in 1532 already used the word for an explosive device, the main sense today (ordigno esplosivo, ordigno bellico, ordigno nucleare).^[6][11][8] In Tuscany ordigni are also the ordinary tools of a smith or carpenter.^[11][3] Petrocchi in 1891 records the jocular sense of a strange object that seems out of place.^[6]

Timeline

• 829 – Medieval Latin ordinium “household goods” is recorded at Padua.^[6][4]
• 1018 – The same word is recorded at Camaldoli.^[6]
• 1271 – A Venetian document has “ordignum”, a device for making soap.^[6]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses ordigno in the Inferno.^[6]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses it for an intrigue.^[6]
• 1532 – Ariosto uses it for an explosive device.^[6]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records the sense of an odd object.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A complicated device or contraption, especially a mechanical one.^[8][11][2]
2. An explosive device, a bomb: Gli artificieri hanno disinnescato l'ordigno.^[8][11][12]
3. (jocular) A strange or suspicious object, a gadget whose use is unclear.^[8][11][13]
4. (regional, Tuscany) A work tool.^[11][8][14]
5. (literary, obsolete) The way something is built, its structure.^[8][11][12]
6. (literary, archaic) A scheme, an intrigue.^[8][11][12]

Related words

• ordinare
• ordine
• Latin ordo
• Spanish ordeñar

Usage notes

Ordigno infernale or diabolico is a very complicated machine.^[8][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
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 d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2669
5. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli