rosicare

Forms

rosicare (first-person singular present rósico, first-person singular past historic rosicài, past participle rosicàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Older forms include rosegare, rosigare and rossicare.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *rōsicāre, a frequentative formed on Latin rōsus (“gnawed”), the past participle of rōdō (“to gnaw”).^{[3][4][5][2][1]} The DEI calls the verb widespread in the southern and northern dialects, and it also has outcomes in Provençal, dialect Spanish and Portuguese.^[6][7] Nocentini gives Occitan rozegar, and Meyer-Lübke also lists Friulian rosea and Portuguese rosegar, “to search for a lost anchor”.^[4][7] Prati thought the standard word was probably taken from the north, from Venetian rosegar and the Lombard forms.^[8]

rosicchiare has a different suffix according to DELI, or continues Vulgar Latin *rosiculāre, an iterative of the same verb.^[3][4] The further origin of rōdō is uncertain: de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- or *wreh₃d-, “to gnaw, furrow”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates rosicare, rosigare and rosegare to Oudin's dictionary of 1640, with the sense of gnawing lightly, a little at a time; the DEI gives 1639.^[3][6] Zingarelli dates the verb to the 14th century, and the GDLI quotes the Anonimo romano for wood eaten away by animals.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

A figurative sense, “to manage to earn or snatch something”, is recorded in the Milanese press in 1847, and “to grumble” in D'Ayala in 1855, who calls certain soldiers rosicatori.^[3] The first lives on in the Tuscan proverb chi non risica non rosica, “who does not risk does not gain”, which Tommaseo already records.^[11][10]

The ordinary verb for gnawing is rodere or rosicchiare;^[11][12] rosicare in that sense is regional and less common.^[11][12] In central and southern Italy and in slang the intransitive verb has come to mean “to be eaten up with envy or rage”, a sense the GDLI's supplement quotes from Luciano De Crescenzo and Sandro Veronesi.^[13][10][2] The noun rosicanti was used for the rodents in 1828–29.^[3]

Timeline

• 1639 – The DEI's date, from Oudin.^[6]
• 1640 – Oudin records rosicare, rosigare and rosegare.^[3]
• 1828–1829 – Rosicanti names the rodents in a medical dictionary.^[3]
• 1847 – The figurative sense “to manage to gain” appears in the Milanese press.^[3]
• 1855 – D'Ayala records rosicatori, grumbling soldiers.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To eat into wood, leather or cloth, as woodworm, moths or damp do.^[5][2]
2. (transitive, regional) To gnaw, to nibble a little at a time: Il criceto rosicava una carota.^{[5][13][14][12]}
3. (transitive, figurative, humorous) To manage to gain or earn something.^[5][10][15]
4. (intransitive, central and southern Italy, slang) To be eaten up with envy or rage: Ha vinto lui, e il fratello rosica.^[13][10][1]

Word family

• rosicchiare
• rosicabile
• rosicante
• rosicatura
• rosichino

Related words

• rodere
• roso
• Latin rōdō

Usage notes

The proverb chi non risica non rosica means that nothing is gained without risk.^[13][10][12] The ⟨s⟩ may be pronounced /s/ or /z/.^[10][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3284
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 852
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. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
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. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ 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