schioppo

Forms

schioppo m (plural schioppi, diminutive schioppétto or schioppettìno, derogatory (rare) schioppùccio)^[1] The popular Tuscan form is stioppo.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin scloppus, a variant of Latin stloppus, the sound made by striking the cheek, of imitative origin; the name of the noise passed by metonymy to the weapon that makes the bang.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} It is the same word as scoppio “bang, explosion”.^[10][11][1] Already in 1543 Acarisio explained that Latin sclopus was the noise made by opening a puffed-out mouth, and that the iron instrument used in war was named after that sound.^[10]

Wiktionary notes that the manuscripts spell the Latin word in many ways (⟨stlop-⟩, ⟨sclop-⟩, ⟨scolp-⟩), and explains them from an original ⟨stl⟩, which became ⟨scl⟩ as Latin vetulus became veclus;^[1] the doublet then has a metathesis.^[1] There is also Medieval Latin sclopus (“gun”) and sclopetare (“to shoot”).^[2]

The Latin word survives elsewhere as the word for a bang: Sicilian scoppu, Venetian scopo, Friulian sclop.^[12] The diminutive schioppetto gave French escopette and Spanish escopeta.^[12][13][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to before 1389, in the old spelling schiopo.^[6] The TLIO's first record is the plural sclopi in the treatise of the Veronese Gidino da Sommacampagna, from the second half of the 14th century, for a firearm consisting of a barrel through which a projectile is fired.^[14]

Semantic evolution

A 19th-century account quoted by DELI says that one of the first makers of firearms loaded with lead balls was a master of Châtillon in the Aosta valley, who made them in 1347–1348, and that the inventory of the fortress of Guastalla of 28 July 1476 lists a rifled sclopetus.^[10] By the 16th century schioppi were used in battle and hunting alike: Angiolello has the bombards and schioppi made ready, and Cellini gave his own stioppo a name, Broccardo.^[10][15]

With the flintlock musket the military gun became the fucile, and schioppo was left to the hunting gun; today it is a jocular or familiar word for a shotgun.^[11][6][16] The phrase a un tiro di schioppo, “within a gunshot”, means close by.^[7][11]

Timeline

• Before 1389 – The word is recorded as schiopo.^[6]
• 1476 – A sclopetus is listed in the inventory of the fortress of Guastalla.^[10]
• Before 1524 – Angiolello uses schioppo for a portable firearm.^[10]
• Before 1529 – Schioppettata “gunshot” is recorded in Da Porto.^[10]
• 1531 – Medieval Latin sclopetare “to shoot” is recorded at Pesaro.^[2]
• 1543 – Acarisio explains the name from the sound of a puffed-out mouth.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) An early portable muzzle-loading firearm with a long barrel, fired at first by a match and later by a wheel lock.^[6][16][11]
2. (colloquial, often jocular) A gun, especially a hunting gun or shotgun.^[6][16][11]

Word family

• schioppetto
• schioppettata

Related words

• scoppio
• Latin stloppus
• French escopette
• Spanish escopeta

Usage notes

A un tiro di schioppo is a common phrase for “close by”: la stazione è a un tiro di schioppo.^[7][11][3] The diminutives are schioppetto and schioppettino, and the pejorative schioppuccio is rare.^[11][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3389
3. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c d e f g Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
14. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 17, 1025
16. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse