seccatura

Forms

seccatura f (plural seccature)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian seccare + -tura, a noun of action from the verb.^[2][3][1][4] Körting set up a Latin type *siccatura behind it, and Wiktionary compares Romanian secătură.^[5][1]

The verb seccare is from Latin siccō (“to dry, drain”), from siccus (“dry”), and has cognates across Romance: French sécher, Occitan secar, Catalan secar, Spanish secar, Portuguese secar and Romanian seca.^[6] Nocentini explains that the verb reached its figurative sense “to bore, pester” through the intermediate sense “to drain, exhaust”, and passed it on to its derivatives seccante, seccatore and the noun itself.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1747, and GRADIT records it before 1748, both in the figurative sense of something that causes annoyance.^[7][2] DELI's first record, from G. Targioni Tozzetti in 1759, already gives both senses, the act of drying and a thing that brings boredom, trouble or bother.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense came first in the record and has always been the main one: the verb seccare had meant “to pester, annoy” since 1314.^[8][2] The GDLI quotes 18th-century writers such as C. I. Frugoni and Metastasio using the word for a burdensome task or request.^[9] Tommaseo noted that a tiresome person could be called una seccatura too, a use the modern dictionaries still list.^[10][2][11]

The literal sense, the drying of hay, fruit, mushrooms or fish, survives but is uncommon today.^[3][12][7] English recorded seccatura as a loanword in 1802, and German Sekkatur (older Seccatur) from 1806, now archaic or Austrian.^[13]

Timeline

• 1314 – The verb seccare is first used for “to pester, annoy”.^[8]
• 1747 – Seccatura is first recorded, according to Zingarelli.^[7]
• Before 1748 – GRADIT's first record, in the sense “a nuisance”.^[2]
• 1759 – G. Targioni Tozzetti uses the word.^[8]
• 1802 – English seccatura is recorded.^[13]
• 1806 – German Seccatur is recorded.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A nuisance, bother: something that causes annoyance, boredom or irritation, or a tiresome chore: Che seccatura, il treno è di nuovo in ritardo!^{[2][3][7][12]}
2. A troublesome matter that may have unpleasant consequences, a headache: Ha avuto qualche seccatura con il padrone di casa.^[2][14][12]
3. (by extension) A tiresome, annoying person.^[2][11][10]
4. (uncommon) The drying of hay, fruit, vegetables or fish, essiccazione.^{[2][3][12][11]}

Related words

• seccare
• secco
• seccante
• seccatore
• Latin siccō

Usage notes

Zingarelli groups seccatura with fastidio and grattacapo as near-synonyms.^[7] The exclamation che seccatura! is common.^[3][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 393
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier