pacchiano

Forms

pacchiano (feminine pacchiana, masculine plural pacchiani, feminine plural pacchiane)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Neapolitan pacchiano, a southern word.^[2][3][4] DELI considers this almost certain, and says the same of the derivative pacchianata.^[2] D'Ambra's Neapolitan dictionary of 1873 records it with an example from 1674.^[2] Its further origin is uncertain, and DELI finds none of the proposals satisfactory.^[2][5][6][7]

Nocentini, followed by Devoto–Oli, derives it from a Vulgar Latin *patulānus (“one who lives in open places”), formed on *patulum (“open place, pasture”), the neuter of Latin patulus (“standing open”), from pateō (“to be open”).^[3][8] He starts from the neutral sense “peasant”, which only later took on the townsman's scorn for the rustic, as happened with villano.^[3] He traces Old Italian pacchiare (“to eat greedily and noisily”) to the same source.^[3] The Latin adjective is formed with the suffix -ulus.^[1][9]

The DEI starts instead from a regional Latin *pachylus or *paculus, from Ancient Greek παχύς (pakhús, “thick, fat”), comparing Late Latin pachys glossed “fat” and the Calabrian and Sicilian words for “fat, plump” such as Sicilian pàcchiu, with the ending -ano taken from the word for a peasant.^[10] DELI finds this chain too complicated.^[2] Migliorini and Duro, and Devoto, relate the word to pacchia, formed from it as the word for a peasant was from villa.^[11][2] DELI objects that the noun seems to belong to central and northern Italy and the adjective to the south.^[2] Prati considered the same verb meaning “to eat greedily”, perhaps mixed with Old French pacant (“boor, lout”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in G. Della Porta in 1607, in the sense “oaf, dolt”.^[2][5] The DEI and Prati also cite the word from Baldovini in the 17th century in the same sense, and the Tommaseo dictionary quotes Baldovini's exclamation Uh! pacchiano.^[10][12][13]

Semantic evolution

The older sense “dolt” is marked as obsolete by Tommaseo and Zingarelli.^[13][6] In the south the word meant a countryman, a peasant.^[14][2][4] In 1900 R. De Cesare described how, at small balls at Gaeta in February 1858, the king and the princes amused themselves by teasing the embarrassed and confused pacchiani, the notables from the villages around.^[2] In 1905 Panzini's dictionary still called it a Neapolitan word for a man from the countryside, and the feminine pacchiana was often a peasant woman in her bright traditional costume.^[2][4]

By 1923 Panzini recorded the sense of a person who tries to look refined and elegant but whose natural coarseness makes him grotesque.^[2] From this came the common modern adjective for anything showy and in poor taste: Ojetti, Soffici, Gadda and Calvino use it of provincial timidity, artistic mediocrity, building and furniture.^[15] The derivatives pacchianeria (before 1914, G. P. Lucini) and pacchianata (1920, given as Neapolitan by Zingarelli in 1922) followed.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1607 – G. Della Porta uses pacchiano in the sense “oaf”.^[2]
• 1674 – Lombardi's Neapolitan example, later quoted by D'Ambra.^[2]
• 1900 – R. De Cesare writes of the pacchiani at the court balls of 1858 in Gaeta.^[2]
• 1905 – Panzini lists it as a Neapolitan word for a countryman.^[2]
• Before 1914 – Pacchianeria is recorded in G. P. Lucini.^[2][3]
• 1920 – Pacchianata is recorded.^[3]
• 1923 – Panzini records the sense of a coarse person who tries to look elegant.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. tacky, garish: showy and lacking in good taste, of a person or a thing: Si era messa una collana proprio pacchiana.^[5][8][6][4]
2. (obsolete) Clumsy, foolish, doltish.^[6][13]

Noun

1. A person without taste or refinement, a cafone.^[5][7][16]
2. (Southern Italy) A peasant, especially one dressed in the traditional, brightly coloured costume.^{[5][6][4][16]}

Word family

• pacchianata
• pacchianeria
• pacchianamente
• pacchianotto

Related words

• pacchia
• villano

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ 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
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2714
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 312
12. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 720
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli