scambio

Forms

scambio m (plural scambi)^[1] Old forms include scanbio and scanio.^[2]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Italian scambiare (“to exchange; to mistake”).^{[3][4][5][6][2]} DELI explains the verb as cambiare (“to change”) with the prefix s-, while Nocentini and the LEI trace it to Vulgar Latin *excambiō, formed from Late Latin cambiō with ex-.^[3][4][7] The Latin verb is recorded in Apuleius and is of Gaulish origin.^[8][4] Nocentini compares Old Irish camb (“crooked”).^[4]

The Vulgar Latin verb survives across Romance: French échanger, Old Occitan escambiar, Catalan escambiar and Portuguese escambar.^[7][9] Forms without the initial vowel are found only in Italo-Romance, in Romanian schimba, perhaps a loan from Italian, and in scambar, beside the usual Portuguese form.^[7] Medieval Latin excambium is recorded at Squillace in Calabria in 1207.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to about 1250, in the sense of an inversion of places or roles.^[6] DELI's first Italian record of the sense “giving one thing and receiving another” is the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense of mistaking one person or thing for another is recorded in Boccaccio's Decameron (1348–1353), where a woman tells a stranger that he has taken her in iscambio, for someone else.^[3][2] The phrases cogliere, prendere or togliere in scambio kept this sense of mistaken identity.^[2]

In economics scambio is the transfer of goods or services in return for other goods or for money, and libero scambio is trade free of duties.^[6][10][11] In the railways it names the points, the device that moves sections of rail to send a train onto one track or another, recorded in 1892.^[3][6] Later senses include a reciprocal influence between cultures or languages, a reaction exchanging ions in chemistry, and in the late 20th century scambio di coppie, partner swapping.^[6][12][2]

Timeline

• 1207 – Medieval Latin excambium is recorded at Squillace.^[3]
• c. 1250 – first record of Italian scambio.^[6]
• End of the 13th century – the Novellino uses scambio for an exchange.^[3]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses in iscambio for a mistaken identity.^[3][2]
• 1892 – scambio names the railway points.^[3]
• 1922 – scambista as a railway pointsman appears in the Zingarelli dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mix-up: mistaking one person or thing for another.^[6][12][13]
2. An exchange: giving something and receiving something else in return: uno scambio di libri tra amici.^[6][10][14]
3. (economics) trade: the transfer of goods or services for other goods or for money.^[6][10][12]
4. A mutual influence between cultures, ideas or languages.^[6]
5. (chemistry) A reaction in which two substances exchange ions.^[12]
6. (rail transport) points, a switch: the device that moves sections of rail to direct a train or tram onto another track.^[6][12][1]

Word family

• scambista
• scambismo
• scambietto
• interscambio

Related words

• cambiare
• scambiare
• cambio
• French échange

Usage notes

In scambio means “instead, in place of”, and prendere in scambio “to mistake for something else”.^[13][11][14] Libero scambio is free trade, scambio di prigionieri an exchange of prisoners, and voto di scambio the illicit trading of votes for favours.^[13][10][15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 k 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 d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3368
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 1135
8. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 1701
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)