parpaglione

Forms

parpaglione m (plural parpaglioni)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian parpallione and Old Italian parpiglione.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pāpiliōnem (“butterfly”), the accusative of pāpiliō, reshaped in popular speech.^[3][4][5] Nocentini sees the change as the influence of a sound-symbolic sequence ⟨par-par⟩,^[3] while Devoto explains the form as a blend of an older Old Italian *papiglione with farfalla.^[6] Prati also leaves open a link with that word, which may itself have been shaped after this one.^[7][8]

The same reshaped form is Ligurian parpagiùn in Genoese and Old Occitan parpalhol in Languedoc and Gascony, and Old French had parpail (“butterfly”).^[5][2] The southern French word gave parpaillot (16th century, Rabelais), later a nickname for the Calvinists, recorded in 1622.^[5] For this reason DEI suggests that the Italian word may be a loan.^[5] In Sicily and Calabria, crossed with zanzara, the word became Sicilian zappagghiuni (“mosquito”).^[5] The unaltered Latin word survives in the literary papilione.^[7][3]

The sail of the same name has the same etymon: Latin pāpiliō also meant “tent” in the Late period, the sense continued by padiglione.^[9][5] DEI takes the sail's name as a learned word rather than a popular one, like Old French papillon in the same sense, and finds it in the Medieval Latin of Venice as parpalio in 1255.^[5][2] Prati suggests that the sail was named after its shape.^[7]

Latin pāpiliō may reflect a reduplicated root meaning “to fly, flutter”, which de Vaan also sees in Proto-Germanic *fifaldǭ (“butterfly”) and Proto-Slavic *perpelъ (“quail”).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded before 1250, in the sense “large butterfly”.^[4][11] GDLI's earliest quotation is from Giacomo da Lentini, who compares the lover to the moth that is not afraid of striking the fire: Sì como ’l parpaglion, ch’à tal natura, / non si rancura de ferire al foco.^[2][12]

Semantic evolution

In early love lyric the parpaglione drawn to a flame is a common image of the lover's fatal attraction, used by Inghilfredi, Chiaro Davanzati, Dante da Maiano and Bonodico da Lucca.^[2][13] The word named night-flying moths in particular, the death's-head hawkmoth, and also the adult clothes moth, and the vernacular Crescenzi uses it for the moth that troubles beehives.^[2][13][9] Leonardo tells a fable of the “vain and vagabond” parpaglione that flies into a candle flame.^[2] Bandello uses the word for a large irregular stain.^[2]

From the 13th century the same word named a small sail in medieval rigging, similar to a jib;^[5][13][4] Francesco da Barberino lists terzaruoli, e parpaglioni among the sails.^[5][13][4] Today both senses are obsolete or literary.^[4][12][14]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Parpaglione “large butterfly” is first recorded.^[4][11]
• 1255 – Medieval Latin parpalio, the sail, is recorded at Venice.^[5][2]
• 13th century – The sail called parpaglione is recorded.^[5]
• 16th century – French parpaillot, from the southern French form, appears in Rabelais.^[5]
• 1622 – Parpaillot is recorded as a nickname for the Calvinists.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic, literary) A large butterfly, especially a night-flying one; a moth.^{[4][12][14][1]}
2. (archaic) The death's-head hawkmoth.^[2][9]
3. (nautical, historical) In medieval rigging, a small sail similar to a jib.^[4][9]

Related words

• papilione
• padiglione
• farfalla
• French papillon
• Latin papilio

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 638
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2781
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 745
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse