piumaccio

Forms

piumaccio m (plural piumacci)^[1] Early forms include Old Italian pimaccio, Old Italian piomaccio, Old Italian plumaço, Old Italian piumazzo and Old Italian primaccio.^[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin plūmācium (“feather cushion”), used by Saint Ambrose and Cassiodorus, from plūma (“feather”).^{[4][5][2][6][7]} The same Latin word gave Spanish plumazo and Portuguese chumaço, and Sicilian chiumazzu “pillow”; derivatives of it are French plumasseau, Occitan plumasol and Catalan plomissol.^[8][6][9]

The sense “feather duster” is a later formation in Italian from piuma with the suffix -accio, to which GRADIT and the GDLI give a headword of its own.^[10][11][12] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *plouksmā, from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”); de Vaan sees a noun with an m-suffix from a root meaning “to float”.^[1][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Milanese poems of Bonvesin de la Riva in the 13th century, for a pillow or cushion.^[2] Zingarelli dates Tuscan use to about 1338, and Boccaccio's will leaves a piumaccio to a woman named Bruna.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant a pillow, by extension a quilt, and in figurative use a comfort or protection; it could also stand for the deathbed.^[2] Giovanni Villani wrote pimaccio, and diminutives such as primaccetto and piumacciuolo appear in the 14th century.^[6]

Later the word gained technical senses: in architecture the band at the centre of the volutes of the Ionic capital, at sea a mat for stopping leaks, and among cabinet-makers a wool pad wrapped in cloth and soaked in shellac for polishing.^[10][5][14] From about 1909 it also names a feather duster, as in Oriani.^[10][11] As “pillow” the word is now archaic or regional.^[5][15]

Timeline

• 13th century – Bonvesin de la Riva uses the word in Milanese.^[2]
• About 1338 – Tuscan use of piumaccio.^[3]
• 14th century – Giovanni Villani writes pimaccio.^[6]
• 1871 – Piumacciuoli is recorded in veterinary use.^[6]
• Before 1909 – The sense “feather duster” is first recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic, regional) A pillow or cushion stuffed with feathers.^[10][5][12]
2. A feather duster.^[10][12]
3. (architecture) In the Ionic capital, the band running down the centre of the volutes seen from the side.^[10][5][12]
4. (nautical, dated) A collision mat for stopping leaks.^[10][5][3]
5. A wool pad covered with cloth and soaked in shellac, used to polish wood.^[10][5][14]

Word family

• piumacciolo
• spiumacciare

Related words

• piuma
• piumino
• Latin pluma

Usage notes

In veterinary use far piumacciuoli was said of a horse that holds its lips open from pain in the bars of the mouth.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2959
7. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 606
12. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana