ranocchio

Forms

ranocchio m (plural ranocchi)^[1] Old Italian also has ranochio, and Battaglia records the older Old Italian rannocchio.^[2][3] The feminine ranocchia is used with the same sense, and granocchio is a variant.^[4][5][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ranunculus (“little frog”), a diminutive of rāna (“frog”), with the first /n/ lost by dissimilation.^{[6][7][8][2][3]} DEI writes that the Latin word, used by Cicero, became *ranuculus and a feminine *ranucula.^[9] DELI and Nocentini treat the word as the masculine of ranocchia, from the same Vulgar Latin form, which replaced the attested ranicula.^[10][11][12] Wiktionary also starts from the feminine and says the masculine later became the commoner form.^[1]

The full form with /n/ is typical of the southern dialects: Sicilian ranunchiu.^[9][13][3] The feminine diminutive also gave French grenouille, Old French renouille and Occitan granolha.^[14][13] Varro already explained the Latin word as named after the animal's call.^[10][15] De Vaan also calls it onomatopoeic, probably from a sound ⟨rā⟩.^[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Pisan Bestiario toscano of the end of the 13th century, where the word means a frog.^[2][10] Dante uses it in the Inferno (1300–1313) for the frogs that sit at the edge of a ditch with only their snouts out of the water: stanno i ranocchi pur col muso fuori.^[10][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense, the common green frog, and it is the more popular and colloquial name beside rana.^[6][5][3] Tommaseo quotes proverbial uses, such as promettendo carpioni, e' dan ranocchi “promising carp, they give frogs”.^[16] The adjective ranocchiesco is recorded in the 15th century, and ranocchiaia, a place full of frogs, from 1872.^[10]

The figurative senses are recent: a small, ungainly person from 1857–58 (Ippolito Nievo), and an affectionate name for a small child from 1939–40 (Palazzi).^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – The Pisan Bestiario toscano has the first record.^[2][10]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses ranocchi in the Inferno.^[10]
• Before 1367 – Fazio degli Uberti uses the feminine ranocchia.^[10]
• 15th century – Ranocchiesco appears in an Italian translation of Aesop.^[10]
• 1857–1858 – Ippolito Nievo uses ranocchio for a small, ungainly person.^[10]
• 1939–1940 – Palazzi records it as a playful name for a child.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (colloquial) A frog, especially the common green frog.^[6][4][7]
2. (figurative) A short, frail or ungainly person.^[6][12][4]
3. (figurative, humorous) An affectionate name for a small, lively child.^[6][12][4]

Word family

• ranocchietto
• ranocchino
• ranocchiesco
• ranocchiaia

Related words

• rana
• ranocchia
• ranuncolo
• Latin rāna
• Latin ranunculus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 15, 443
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 Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3206
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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 Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
14. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
15. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET