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sceriffo

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sceriffo1 sheriff

Pronunciation

  • /ʃeˈrif.fo/[1]

Forms

sceriffo m (plural sceriffi)[1]

Etymology

The sheriff is borrowed from English sheriff, from Old English scīrġerēfa, a compound of scīr (“shire, county”) and ġerēfa (“reeve, magistrate”).[2][3][4] DELI dates the English word to about 1034.[2] Zingarelli, Gabrielli and Treccani give a route through French chérif, while DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT take the word directly from English;[5][6][7][8] Prati records shériff from 1688.[5][6][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded as serifo in 1498, in a report of the Venetian ambassadors on England, which explains that London has its mayor, every town its own magistrate, and the shires their serifo.[2][9][4] The form sceriffo appears in 1749, in the Italian translation of Chambers's Cyclopaedia.[2]

Semantic evolution

Older texts also have scheriffo, scerifo and seriffo.[9] The American sense, the elected head of the police of a county, is recorded from 1905 in Panzini's dictionary of new words, and Westerns made it familiar.[2][4] In popular use a sceriffo is also a private security guard, and journalists call a mayor or official who enforces order with rough methods a sindaco sceriffo.[4][10][11]

Timeline

  • About 1034 – The English word is recorded, in an Old English form.[2]
  • 1498 – Serifo appears in a Venetian ambassadors' report on England.[2]
  • 1749 – Sceriffo appears in the Italian Chambers.[2]
  • 1905 – Panzini records the American sense.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a sheriff, a county officer with administrative and judicial duties, today largely honorary.[4][10][7]
  2. In the United States, the elected head of the police of a county.[4][10][11]
  3. (popular) A private security guard.[4][11][5]
  4. (figurative) Someone who takes it upon themselves to enforce the law, usually with harsh methods: un sindaco sceriffo.[10]

sceriffo2 sharif

Pronunciation

  • /ʃeˈrif.fo/[1]

Forms

sceriffo m (plural sceriffi)[1]

Etymology

The sharif is borrowed from Arabic شريف (šarīf, “noble”), the title of the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima.[3][4][1] The same Arabic word gave French chérif (1552, Rabelais; sérif 1528) and English sherif (1599).[12][8] The dialect plural “shurfa” was taken into Italian administrative language as “sciorfà”.[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini records the title as syriph in 1375 and as ciriffo about 1466.[3] GRADIT dates it to about 1300.[4] The form sceriffo is from 1553.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Reports on North Africa and Arabia used the forms serif, seriffo and sceriffo: Leo Africanus stayed three days in a city “with the serif prince”, and Venetian ambassadors wrote of the seriffo of Mecca and the sceriffo king of Fez.[9] The name also passed to a Muslim gold coin worth a little more than the Venetian sequin.[9] Today the word is a historical term for this religious nobility.[4][7]

Timeline

  • 1375 – The title is recorded as syriph.[3]
  • About 1466 – The form ciriffo is recorded.[3]
  • 1553 – The form sceriffo is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) A sharif, a descendant of Muhammad through Fatima and Ali, venerated and holding religious and political authority.[4][10][7]

Word family

  • sceriffiano
  • English sheriff
  • English shire
  • English reeve

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  7. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  8. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  9. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ a b c d e 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 c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3383