paonazzo

Forms

paonazzo (feminine paonazza, masculine plural paonazzi, feminine plural paonazze)^[1] Forms in the TLIO include Old Italian paonaçço and Old Italian paonazo.^[2] The word also has the less common variant pavonazzo and the old variant pagonazzo.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pāvōnāceus (“resembling a peacock's tail”), from pāvō (“peacock”), after the colour of the peacock's tail feathers.^{[6][7][8][9][1]} Treccani and Devoto–Oli describe it as a derivative of pavone and its old form paone.^[5][3] GDLI calls it learned.^[10] Nocentini classes the Latin word among those of non-Indo-European origin.^[7]

The same Latin word gave Old French peonace (“dark violet”).^[7][11] Spanish pavonazo comes from Italian.^[7]

Devoto explains the form by the complete loss of the Latin ⟨-v-⟩ between vowels and a northern ending ⟨-asso⟩, later partly turned back into Tuscan ⟨-azzo⟩.^[12] Sabatini–Coletti take the ⟨-g-⟩ of pagonazzo as a consonant inserted to break the hiatus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Florentine document of 1306–1325, where the adjective names a colour between purple and bluish.^[2] DELI's first record is the noun for a garment of this colour, in Matteo Villani before 1363.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th and 15th centuries the colour word was mostly written pagonazzo, as in Cennino Cennini's treatise on painting, and pavonazo in the cookery of Maestro Martino.^[6][10] Pavonazzo appears in Aretino in 1534, and paonazzo in Ramusio, before 1557.^[6] Medieval Latin paonacius is recorded at Bologna in 1401.^[6] The TLIO also records a noun for cloth dyed in the colour.^[2]

From the colour of things the adjective passed to the face and hands turned purplish by cold, anger, shame or poor circulation.^[8][5] The abito paonazzo is the dress of bishops.^[13] In the stone trade paonazzo is a breccia marble, reddish or pale violet, quarried in Emilia.^[8][5]

Timeline

• 1306–1325 – A Florentine document is the TLIO's first record.^[2]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses the noun for a garment of this colour.^[6][8]
• 1300s–1400s – Cennino Cennini writes pagonazzo.^[6]
• 1401 – Medieval Latin paonacius is recorded at Bologna.^[6]
• 1400s – Maestro Martino writes pavonazo.^[6]
• 1534 – Aretino writes pavonazzo.^[6]
• Before 1557 – The form paonazzo appears in Ramusio.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a dark purple or reddish-violet colour.^[8][3][13]
2. Of the face or skin, turned purplish-red by cold, anger, shame or poor circulation: Tornò a casa paonazzo dal vento.^[8][3][5]

Noun

1. The colour itself, a dark violet.^[8][4][5]
2. (uncommon) Cloth or clothing of this colour.^[8][4][5]
3. (geology) A reddish or violet breccia marble quarried in Emilia.^[8][3][4]

Word family

• paonazzetto

Related words

• pavone
• Latin pāvō

Usage notes

Treccani gives the pronunciation /pao'nats:o/;^[14][4] pavonazzo is less common and pagonazzo is old.^[14][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 d 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. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 508
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2754
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana