rigogolo

Forms

rigogolo m (plural rigogoli)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *aurigalbulus (“bird yellow as gold”), a compound of Latin aurum (“gold”) and galbulus (“golden oriole; yellowish”), named for the bird's bright yellow plumage.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} DELI, following Alessio, and Nocentini prefer the variant *aurigalgulus, since Pliny records galgulus, an assimilated form of the bird's name.^[6][7][8] The second element is a diminutive of galbus (“yellow, pale green”), of uncertain origin.^[2][9][5]

The initial vowel, from Latin ⟨au-⟩, was absorbed into the article.^[7] Classical Latin named the bird with simple words for its colour, aureolus (“golden”), the source of oriolo, and the diminutive itself.^[7]

The LEI sets up three bases: *aurigalbus in Cisalpine Gaul and Provence, the form in -ulus only in Emilia and Romagna, and the assimilated variant in Tuscany.^[10] To the second belong Ferrarese argàibul and Romagnol arghêval.^[10][11][12] Meyer-Lübke asks whether Provençal rigau (“robin”) belongs here as well.^[11] DEI calls the word exclusively Italian.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292.^[6][2] The GDLI quotes him: Rigogolo è uno uccello della grandezza del pappagallo, e volentieri usa ne’ giardini e ne’ luoghi freschi e inarborati (“the oriole is a bird the size of the parrot, and it likes to stay in gardens and in cool, wooded places”).^[14] The LEI dates the first record to about 1294, in Brunetto Latini.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio lists the bird among those rising over the Rhône in the Filocolo, and the Italian translation of Crescenzi tells how orioles are caught with limed ropes when they come to the figs or the grapes.^[14] Giusti's collection of proverbs has giallo come un rigogolo (“as yellow as an oriole”).^[15]

Florio's dictionaries also give the word for a kind of crow (1598) and for a net to catch birds (1611).^[10] In 1848 Ugolini noted that some people wrongly used it in familiar speech for arzigogolo “fanciful notion”.^[6] The name is Florentine and Pisan;^[13] Siena and Arezzo say golo, Pisa also ribobolo, the Val di Chiana gogolo, and the island of Giglio has altered it to gregorio.^[13] The LEI thinks the type ribobolo probably belongs here, though an imitative origin or a crossing with arzigogolo cannot be ruled out.^[10] Other names of the bird are oriolo, giallone, beccafico and pappafico.^[9][16]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni describes the rigogolo.^[6][2]
• About 1294 – Brunetto Latini, the LEI's first record.^[10]
• 1598 – Florio gives the sense “a kind of crow”.^[10]
• 1611 – Florio adds the sense “bird net”.^[10]
• 1681 – Veneroni has the form riguogolo.^[10]
• 1848 – Ugolini notes the word used for arzigogolo.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) The golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus), a songbird whose male is bright yellow with black wings and tail and whose female is greenish yellow, a summer visitor to Italy.^{[2][3][9][4][1]}
2. The common name of the birds of the genus Oriolus, the orioles.^[2][5]

Related words

• oro
• oriolo
• Latin aurum
• Latin galbulus

Usage notes

The GDLI records a second rigogolo, a bizarre, intricate architectural ornament, in Milizia, perhaps a crossing of rigolo with arzigogolo.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c 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 d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 2498
11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 840
13. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3253
14. ^ 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. 16, 329
15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli