punzone

Forms

punzone m (plural punzoni)^[1]

Etymology

In DELI and GRADIT it is inherited from Latin punctio (“pricking, stabbing”), from the accusative punctiōnem, although the Latin word meant a sharp stabbing pain rather than a tool.^[2][3][4][1] DELI thinks the word probably reached Italian through French poinçon, recorded as poinchon about 1220, together with poinçonner (“to stamp with a punch”), ponchonner in 1324.^[2] The GDLI accepts the French route only for the tool, keeping the old sense, a blow of the fist, as Italian.^[5]

Nocentini sees an Italian formation instead: from Italian ponzare, the tool being named for piercing; for him poinçon and Spanish punzón are parallel formations of the same kind.^[6] DELI traces the verb ponzare to a Vulgar Latin intensive *punctiāre of pungō (“to prick”).^[2] Prati lists the word under ponzare and quotes a Medieval Latin ponzonem ferreum (“iron punch”), from 1063, in a document of Cava.^[7]

Latin punctio is formed from pungō with the suffix -tiō.^[8][1] De Vaan derives the verb from a nasal present Proto-Indo-European *pu-n(e)-g/k-, the source of pugnus (“fist”) too.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in Boccaccio's Decameron (1348–1353), has the sense “a blow with the knuckles or the closed hand”: one character gives another nel viso un gran punzone, “a great punch in the face”.^[3][6][10] Sacchetti uses it in the 14th century too.^[11] The tool, a steel rod with a letter, number or mark at its end for stamping metal, is first recorded in a Tuscan document of 1478.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “punch with the fist” was still used by Pulci, but now it is literary or Tuscan, and most dictionaries label it obsolete.^[12][4][13] The tool sense grew with the crafts: Vasari describes making medals by cutting the dies with steel punches, and in typography the punch carried the raised letter used to strike the matrix in which the type was cast.^[14][3][15] In mechanics the punzone is the moving part of a press that cuts or pierces sheet metal against a die.^[16][15]

The derivatives followed the tool: punzonare “to stamp with a punch” is in Florio in 1598, and was used in sport from 1958 for marking the vehicles entered in a race;^[2] punzonatrice, the punching machine, is recorded in 1905.^[2] German borrowed the word as Punze “punch, hallmark” as early as 1459.^[17]

Timeline

• 1063 – Medieval Latin ponzonem ferreum appears in a document of Cava.^[7]
• About 1220 – Old French poinchon is recorded.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio's Decameron uses punzone for a blow of the fist.^[3][6]
• 1459 – German Punze is first recorded.^[17]
• 1478 – A Tuscan document names the stamping tool.^[2]
• 1598 – Punzonare is in Florio's dictionary.^[2]
• 1905 – Punzonatrice is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A punch: a small rod or block of hard steel with a raised letter, number or mark at one end, used to stamp it into metal or another surface: il punzone dell'orafo.^[3][4][13]
2. (printing) A steel punch bearing a raised letter, used to strike the matrice for casting movable type.^[3][15]
3. (mechanics) The moving tool of a press that pierces or cuts sheet metal against a die.^[3][16][15]
4. A driftpin.^[1]
5. (archaic, Tuscan) A blow with the knuckles or the closed hand; a pugno.^[3][4][12]

Word family

• punzonare
• punzonatore
• punzonatrice
• punzonatura
• spunzone
• contrappunzone

Related words

• pungere
• punto
• ponzare
• French poinçon
• Latin punctio

Usage notes

Bollo a punzone was the stamp pressed by the registry offices on documents in place of revenue stamps.^[4][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 796
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 1009
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3153
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. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it