scivolare

Forms

scivolare (first-person singular present scìvolo, first-person singular past historic scivolài, past participle scivolàto, auxiliary èssere or (in some meanings) avére)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain: DELI calls it a word of unknown origin, perhaps imitative, and GRADIT, Sabatini–Coletti, Treccani, Gabrielli and the GDLI also suggest an onomatopoeic word.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} It began as a word of Rome.^[2][8][7]

Nocentini takes it as a Romance imitative word of the same base as the nautical verb sciare, through a diminutive ⟨*sciolare⟩ with a ⟨v⟩ inserted to break the hiatus.^[8] Prati connects it with the expression ⟨a scio⟩ “sliding” of the Pistoia mountains, and DEI with a northern Tuscan scio (“slide”).^[9][10]

In the 18th century Salvini derived it from sibilo (“hiss”), from the hiss the foot makes as it slips.^[2][9] Devoto and Devoto–Oli took it from Latin exsībilō (“to hiss out”), moved from the sound of whistling to the symbolic sense of slipping, and Wiktionary also gives that Latin verb.^[11][12][1] DEI finds this unlikely, and Nocentini judges it possible in form but hard to explain in meaning.^[10][8]

Caix had proposed a Germanic source, Old High German slīfan (“to slip”), through an intermediate ⟨*scilovare⟩.^[13][14] Wiktionary also mentions a blend of sci (“ski”) and volare (“to fly”), perhaps a folk etymology.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in L. Bellini, before 1704, for sliding lightly and quickly over a smooth or sloping surface and for slipping from the hands.^[2] Much earlier, the 14th-century Roman chronicle of the Anonimo romano has the adjective scivolente: la terra era scivolente (“the ground was slippery”).^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Salvini wrote that what the Florentines call sdrucciolare is scivolare in Rome, and D'Alberti's dictionary of 1805 still called it a Roman word, though in general use.^[2][7] Belli has many examples of scivolà.^[2] Tommaseo set the two verbs apart: one scivola on ice on purpose and keeping one's balance, but sdrucciola by accident, on a melon rind.^[15]

The derivatives show Roman uses too: Salvini in 1726 called scivolata a kind of improvised poem in unrhymed sdrucciolo lines, and Tosi in 1723 used scivolo for an agile manner of singing.^[2] In the 20th century scivolo became an inclined plane (D'Annunzio, 1921), and scivolata d’ala a manoeuvre of aircraft (1925).^[2] Modern figurative uses include sliding into poverty or vice and gliding over an awkward subject.^[3][16]

Timeline

• Before 1704 – L. Bellini uses scivolare.^[2]
• 1723 – Tosi uses scivolo for an agile manner of singing.^[2]
• 1726 – Salvini describes the scivolata as a Roman name for a kind of poem.^[2]
• 1805 – D'Alberti calls scivolare a Roman word in general use.^[2]
• 1873 – Scivolone “a slip, a fall” is recorded.^[8]
• 1921 – D'Annunzio uses scivolo for an inclined plane.^[2]
• 1925 – Scivolata d’ala, an aircraft's sideslip, is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To slide, to glide over a smooth or sloping surface: I bambini scivolavano sul ghiaccio del laghetto.^[3][16][5]
2. To slip, to lose one's footing: Attento, il pavimento è bagnato e si scivola.^[3][16][5]
3. To move smoothly and silently: La canoa scivolava sull’acqua.^[3][5]
4. Of a person: to slip away unnoticed: scivolare via.^[3][6]
5. To slip from one's hands or grasp: Mi è scivolato di mano il telefono.^[3][16][6]
6. (figurative) To slide gradually into a bad condition: scivolare nella miseria.^[3][6]
7. (figurative) To pass over, not to dwell on a subject: scivolare su una domanda.^[3][16][6]
8. (figurative) Of a conversation: to drift to another subject.^[3][16]

Word family

• scivolata
• scivolo
• scivolone
• scivoloso
• scivolosità
• scivolamento
• scivolatoio
• scivolevole
• scivolina
• scivolio

Related words

• sdrucciolare

Usage notes

Scivolare su una buccia di banana “to slip on a banana skin” is to make an unexpected blunder.^[16] The auxiliary is essere, or less often avere for sliding on purpose.^[16][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 895
10. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3404
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
14. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli