scheggia

Forms

scheggia f (plural schegge)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin schidia (“chip, splinter”), used by Vitruvius, which is from Ancient Greek σχίδια (skhídia), the plural of σχίδιον (skhídion, “splinter”), from σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Greek verb is also behind schisi, scisma and scisto, and Devoto compares scindō (“to split”).^[3][6] Latin ⟨-di-⟩ became ⟨-ggi-⟩, as in moggio.^[6] Alessio proposed a different explanation.^[2]

Outcomes in the dialects include Lombard schea, and there was a masculine Old Italian scheggio (“crag”).^[4][7] French esquille (“bone splinter”) goes back to the same Latin word, but Nocentini calls it a learned borrowing with a changed suffix.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a document from Prato of 1293–1306, for a sharp irregular fragment split off a solid body.^[8] DELI's first date is Dante, 1310–1313.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante also used scheggia for a jagged crag: “tra le schegge e tra' rocchi de lo scoglio”, among the crags and boulders of the cliff.^[9][10] Old Italian extended it to a plank, a broken twig, a rocky outcrop and the ruined stump of a building.^[8] The proverb la scheggia ritrae dal ceppo, the chip takes after the block, is said of children who resemble their parents.^[11]

The verb scheggiare “to chip” is as old as Dante, and scheggiatura is recorded from 1875.^[2] War gave the sense “shrapnel”, and journalists of the mid-1980s coined scheggia impazzita, a stray splinter, for an isolated act or group that escapes all control.^[9] Colloquially a scheggia is anyone or anything very fast.^[10][12]

Timeline

• 1293–1306 – A document from Prato uses scheggia.^[8]
• 1310–1313 – Dante uses scheggia.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the verb scheggiare.^[2]
• Before 1566 – A. Caro uses scheggiarsi “to splinter”.^[2]
• 1875 – Scheggiatura is recorded.^[2]
• Mid-1980s – Scheggia impazzita enters journalistic language.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A splinter, chip or shard of wood, stone, glass and the like.^{[10][12][13][9]}
2. A fragment of an exploding shell or bomb, shrapnel: schegge di bomba.^[10][13][9]
3. (colloquial, figurative) Someone or something very fast.^[10][12][14]
4. (figurative) A fragment of a text, programme or memory.^[13]
5. (literary) A jagged crag or irregular boulder.^[10][12][13]
6. (slang) A car wheel.^[10]

Word family

• scheggiare
• scheggiatura
• scheggioso
• scheggiame
• scheggio
• scheggione
• scheggiume

Related words

• scisma
• Latin schidia

Usage notes

Scheggia litica is the stone flake struck off by prehistoric people as a tool.^[12][9] A scheggia means at great speed.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3383
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli