pargolo

Forms

pargolo m (plural pargoli, feminine pargola)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin parvulus (“very small”), the diminutive of parvus (“small”).^[2][3][4][1] In Christian Latin, as in the Vulgate, the diminutive took on the affectionate sense “child”.^[5] The poetic parvolo stays closer to the Latin.^[6][7][8]

The same word is Occitan parvol (“child”), Catalan parvol and Portuguese parvo (“small; foolish”).^[3][9][5]

The ⟨g⟩ continues the Latin ⟨v⟩, as in ugola.^[10] DELI notes that, unlike in sego, the ⟨g⟩ of this word does not stand between vowels, and Sabatini–Coletti calls it a popular treatment of ⟨v⟩ like the ⟨w⟩ of Germanic words.^[2][11]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *pauro-, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂u-ro-, with the stem also found in paucus (“few”) and pauper (“poor”).^[12][2][3] It is cognate with Ancient Greek παῦρος (paûros, “little”) and Old English fēa (“few”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Guidotto da Bologna, at the beginning of the 13th century, with the sense “child, boy”.^[2] Prati instead cites Guidotto for the adjective “small”.^[13]

Semantic evolution

Dante made the word and its family literary: he uses pargoletto in 1293–1294 and pargoleggiare, “to behave like a child”.^[2][5] In the Convivio he says that most men live by the senses and not by reason, a guisa di pargoli (“like children”), and he also calls childish someone who is pargolo in his ways rather than in his years.^[14][15][4]

Manzoni's line Ecco ci è nato un Pargolo translates the Vulgate's Parvulus natus est nobis (Isaiah 9:6).^[14][15] The first editions read parvolo.^[15] The word remains literary, but in everyday speech it is used jokingly for one's children.^[6][11][16]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Guidotto da Bologna uses pargolo.^[2]
• 1293–1294 – Dante uses pargoletto.^[2]
• Before 1328 – Lapo Gianni uses pargoletto as an adjective, “childlike”.^[2]
• 14th century – Pargoleggiare is recorded.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A child, an infant.^{[4][6][11][7][1]}
2. (humorous) One's kid: Sabato porto i pargoli allo zoo.^[6][11][16]

Adjective

1. (literary) Small, of tender age.^{[4][11][7][1]}
2. (literary, figurative) childish, immature.^[4][6][11]

Word family

• pargoletto
• pargoleggiare
• pargolezza
• pargolità

Related words

• parvolo
• Latin parvulus

Usage notes

The feminine is pargola.^[1][6] The diminutive pargoletto is more common in the written language than pargolo.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2775
6. ^ 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
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. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 743
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana