ragna

Forms

ragna f (plural ragne)^[1] The form without aphaeresis, aragna, is recorded from Florio (1598) to Veneroni (1681).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin arānea (“spider's web; spider”), with the loss of the first vowel, which was taken for the article: ⟨l'aragna⟩ was heard as ⟨la ragna⟩.^[3][4][1][2] In Latin the feminine first meant cobweb, beside the neuter arāneum.^[5][2] The sense spider appears in poetry from Catullus and in prose from Fronto.^[5][2] Italian ragno continues the masculine arāneus.^[6]

The feminine survives, meaning spider, as Old French iraigne, Old Occitan eranha, Catalan aranya, Spanish araña and Portuguese aranha.^[2][6][7]

Outside Latin the word is found only in Greek, Ancient Greek ἀράχνη (arákhnē, “spider”): Latin may have borrowed it from Greek, perhaps through the myth of Arachne, or both languages may have taken it from an unknown source.^[5][6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Serventese dei Lambertazzi e dei Geremei of about 1280, where a ragna is the great upright net set across the birds' passage.^[5] Cecco Angiolieri (before 1313) still uses it as an adjective: tele ragne, “spider webs”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses ragna for the spider (1313–1319) and figuratively for a snare (before 1321).^[5][8] The sense “cobweb” is recorded in the 14th-century translation of Seneca.^[5][2] Crescenzi's treatise describes bird nets called ragne, so fine that they can hardly be seen in the air, simple or with three layers.^[9]

The Tuscan sense of a worn, thin patch in cloth is recorded from 1939–1940.^[5] The verb ragnare was formed from it.^[5] By likeness, thin white clouds spreading across the sky are also called ragne.^[9][8][3] The navy of the sailing age used a ragna for a net in front of the tops that kept the square sails from wearing;^[10][8] DEI records it from 1813.^[10][8]

Timeline

• c. 1280 – Ragna “bird net” in the Serventese dei Lambertazzi e dei Geremei.^[5]
• Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri writes tele ragne “spider webs”.^[5]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses ragna for the spider.^[5][6]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it figuratively for a snare.^[5]
• 1300s – The translation of Seneca uses it for “cobweb”.^[5]
• 1813 – The nautical sense is recorded by Stratico.^[10]
• 1939–1940 – Palazzi records the sense “worn patch of cloth”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A cobweb, spider's web.^[3][11][4]
2. (figurative) A snare or trap: cadere nella ragna, to fall into a trap.^[11][4][12]
3. (hunting) A fine-meshed upright net, often triple, for catching small birds.^[3][11][13]
4. (Tuscany) A worn, thin patch in cloth; by extension, a thin white cloud spreading like a web.^[3][11][8]
5. (sericulture) The thin floss the silkworm spins at the start of its cocoon.^[11][4][8]
6. (historical, nautical) A net set in front of the tops to keep the square sails from wearing.^[3][11][13]
7. (archaic) A spider.^[3][11][13]

Word family

• ragnaia
• ragnare
• ragnatura
• ragnola
• ragnato

Related words

• ragnatela
• ragnatelo
• ragnateloso
• ragno
• Latin arānea

Usage notes

Erba ragna or ragna is a regional name of the dodders (Cuscuta), and ragna del melo is the apple ermine moth, whose larvae build a web-like nest.^[8][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 685
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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3199
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli