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pelliccia

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word pelliccia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1274 Pietro da Bescapè, as pelixa More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin *pellicia
Ultimate origin
Latin pellis

Pronunciation

  • /pelˈlit.t͡ʃa/[1]

Forms

pelliccia f (plural pellicce)[1] Old forms include Old Italian pelixa, Old Italian peliza and pilliccia.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pellīcia, a neuter plural taken as a feminine singular, the noun use of Late Latin pellīcius (“of skin”), from pellis (“skin”).[5][6][7][1] DEI and GRADIT give the Late Latin form pellīcia.[8][9] The word is panromance: French pelisse, Occitan pelisa, Catalan pellissa, Spanish pelliza and Portuguese peliça.[5][10] The word for a furrier, Medieval Latin pellicciarius, is recorded at Rome in 1176.[8]

The Latin word also passed into Germanic: Old High German pelliz, modern German Pelz, and the English word pilch.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Lombard pelixa of Pietro da Bescapè, 1274, in a line on clothing made of furs.[3][2][4] The Tuscan form pelliccia appears early in the 14th century in the Statute of the Bologna toll.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant an animal's skin with the hair left on, the material made from such skins, and a garment sewn from them;[3][2][11] Crescenzi's translation (about 1350) speaks of the garments and linings made from sheepskins.[3][2][11] The heraldic sense, a field of ermine or vair distinct from the colours and metals, is dated from 1929.[2] The living animal's coat is the last sense to be recorded, from 1958.[2][7]

In agriculture pelliccia is also the grassy top layer of a meadow;[8][6] DEI records it in Pisan and Lucchese from 1829.[8][6]

Timeline

  • 1176 – Medieval Latin pellicciarius is recorded at Rome.[8]
  • 1274 – Pietro da Bescapè uses pelixa.[3][2]
  • Early 14th century – Pelliccia appears in the Statute of the Bologna toll.[2][4]
  • About 1350 – Crescenzi's translation uses the word for a fur garment.[2]
  • 1829 – Pelliccia “turf” is recorded.[8]
  • 1929 – The heraldic sense is recorded.[2]
  • 1958 – The sense “animal's coat” is recorded.[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. fur: the thick coat of hair of many mammals: animali da pelliccia.[9][6][12]
  2. A dressed skin with its fur kept soft and glossy: pelliccia di visone.[9][6][13]
  3. A fur coat or other garment made of or lined with fur.[9][6][7]
  4. (heraldry) A fur: a field such as ermine or vair, distinct from the colours and metals.[9][6][12]
  5. (agriculture) turf: the grassy top layer of a meadow.[9][6][7]

Word family

  • pellicciaio
  • pellicceria
  • pellicciotto
  • pelliccione
  • pellicciame
  • impellicciare
  • spellicciare

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 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 Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  4. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 967
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2827
  9. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  13. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pelliccia.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/pelliccia. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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