scarpa

scarpa¹ shoe

Pronunciation

• /ˈskar.pa/^[4]

Forms

scarpa f (plural scarpe)^[4] An old plural was scarpi.^[5] The Old Italian forms are scarpa, scarpe and scharpe.^[6]

Etymology

The word for a shoe is of disputed origin.^[1][6][7] DELI, GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti derive it from a Germanic *skarpa (“leather pouch”), and Wiktionary gives the source as borrowed from Gothic *𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍂𐍀𐌰 (*skarpa), from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz (“sharp”).^[1][2][8][4] DEI compares Old High German scharpa, and Meyer-Lübke set up a Germanic word for a shoe on the same basis.^[9][10] Zaccaria thought the shoe was named after its pointed shape.^[11] Alessio, quoted by DELI, took it instead from Old French escharpe (“pouch, purse”), from Frankish *skerpa.^[1][10]

Joan Corominas and Arrigo Castellani proposed a Byzantine Greek origin, which Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and the TLIO prefer: Ancient Greek καρβατίνη (karbatínē, “shoe of rough leather”), in Hesychius also καρπατίνη (karpatínē), from καρβάτινος (karbátinos, “of leather”).^[7][12][6] Castellani thought the word named the footwear of the Byzantine army and came into Italy in the 6th century; adapted as ⟨scarpettina⟩ and taken for a diminutive, it was shortened to scarpetta and finally to “scarpa”.^[7][6] In support, Tuscan texts of the 13th and 14th centuries normally have “scarpetta”, not “scarpa”.^[7][1] DELI objects that southern Italy has “scarpe” as early as the document of about 988, or at the latest the first half of the 12th century, while the first Tuscan record of the short form is in the 14th century.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is an inventory written on a Salerno document of about 988, which lists scarpe pari I, one pair of shoes.^[1][2] Scarpa is a surname in Calabria in 1183, and the Medieval Latin chronicle of Salimbene (1281–1288) uses the noun.^[1] The TLIO's first Italian record is a Florentine document of 1288–1289.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian non valere una scarpa meant “to be worth nothing”.^[6] Fazio degli Uberti in the 14th century writes of a pilgrim coming to Provence “with the mule, the staff and stout shoes” (col mulo, col bordone e scarpe grosse).^[5] Derivatives followed early: scarpetta (1287), scarpone “heavy shoe” (end of the 13th century), scarpino (1547) and scarpinare “to walk a long way” (1536, Pietro Aretino).^[1]

In 1860 Giacinto Carena described the scarpa of a carriage, a curved iron shoe put under a rear wheel on steep descents, and the 1922 Zingarelli records the wedge put under the wheel of a vehicle parked on a slope.^[1] The figurative sense “incompetent person” is recorded in 1959, and the underworld used the word for a pickpocket.^[1][2] The phrase fare le scarpe a qualcuno, “to undermine someone while pretending friendship”, has no settled explanation: DELI mentions the old slang farai la scarpa “you will cut a purse” and a soldiers' explanation from the First World War, while Nocentini compares ironic phrases such as Tuscan fare il vestitino.^[1][7]

Timeline

• c. 988 – Scarpe appears in an inventory on a Salerno document.^[1]
• 1183 – Scarpa is recorded as a surname in Calabria.^[1]
• 1281–1288 – Salimbene uses the word in Medieval Latin.^[1]
• 1287 – Scarpetta is recorded in Florence.^[1]
• 1288–1289 – The first Florentine record of scarpa.^[6]
• 1536 – Pietro Aretino uses scarpinare.^[1]
• 1860 – Giacinto Carena describes the brake shoe of a carriage.^[1]
• 1942 – Scarpiera is recorded.^[1]
• 1959 – The sense “incompetent person” is recorded.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shoe, a covering for the foot with a sole and an upper, usually reaching no higher than the ankle: Ho comprato un paio di scarpe di pelle.^[2][12][8]
2. In old armour, the piece of mail or iron plates that protected the foot.^[2]
3. (figurative, colloquial) An incompetent person, a duffer: A scacchi sono proprio una scarpa.^[2][8][13]
4. (underworld slang) A pickpocket.^[2]
5. A curved iron shoe used to brake a carriage wheel; a wedge put under the wheel of a vehicle stopped on a slope.^[1][8]

Word family

• scarpetta
• scarpone
• scarpino
• scarpinare
• scarpinata
• scarpiera
• scarpaio
• scarparo
• soprascarpa

scarpa² slope, scarp

Pronunciation

• /ˈskar.pa/^[4]

Forms

scarpa f (plural scarpe)^[4]

Etymology

The word for a slope is probably borrowed from Gothic *𐍃𐌺𐍂𐌰𐍀𐌰 (*skrapa, “support, prop”), according to DELI, GRADIT and the GDLI.^[1][2][14] Alessio objected that a Gothic origin is unlikely for a word recorded so late, and difficult in its sounds; he took it as a metaphorical use of the word for a shoe, a learned calque of Latin crepīdō (“base, embankment”), from crepida (“sandal”).^[1] Nocentini also explains it as an extension of the word for a shoe, like that of zoccolo, and compares Ancient Greek κρηπίς (krēpís), which meant both “shoe” and “base, embankment”.^[7] Zaccaria related it to a Germanic adjective for “sharp”, like Old Frisian skerp and English sharp.^[11]

The word passed as a term of fortification into French escarpe (1549, “contrescarpe” 1546) and Spanish escarpa (first half of the 17th century), and, from French into English scarp (1589).^[7][15][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Filarete's treatise on architecture, before 1465, for the slope of a wall: he wants the ditch to have “ten braccia of slope” at the bottom (pigli in fondo braccia dieci di scarpa).^[1][3]

Semantic evolution

Leonardo da Vinci and Francesco Guicciardini used the word in fortification, for the sloping base of a wall built to strengthen it.^[11][14] Antonio Lupicini used it for the slope of an embankment in 1582.^[1] The derivative scarpata, an embankment beside a road, is recorded around 1847, and geography speaks of the scarpa continentale (1917–1927), later scarpata continentale (1959), the continental slope.^[1] The word also names a support for the fixed cables of suspension bridges and cableways, and the inclined bed on a ship's deck where the anchor rests.^[2][8]

Timeline

• Before 1465 – Filarete uses scarpa for the slope of a wall.^[1]
• 1546 – French contrescarpe is recorded, and escarpe follows in 1549.^[15]
• 1582 – Antonio Lupicini uses it for the slope of an embankment.^[1]
• 1589 – English scarpe is recorded.^[15]
• c. 1847 – Scarpata is recorded.^[1]
• 1917–1927 – Scarpa is used for the continental slope.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. A natural slope steep enough to be stable without supporting works.^[2][8]
2. The sloping outer face of a structure, and the structure itself, muro a scarpa, a battered wall.^[2][8][3]
3. A support for fixed cables, as in suspension bridges and cableways.^[2][8]
4. (nautical) The inclined bed on the edge of the deck where the anchor lies when it is not let down.^[2]

Word family

• scarpata
• controscarpa