segnale

Forms

segnale m (plural segnali)^[1] Old forms include segnae, segnalle, sengnale, signale and seignal.^[2] A Gallo-Italian seignal appears as early as the 12th century, in the Sermoni subalpini.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin signāle, the neuter of the adjective signālis (“serving as a sign”) used as a noun, from Latin signum (“mark, sign”).^[4][5][6][1] The same Late Latin noun gave Old French seignal (modern French signal), Occitan senhal, Catalan senyal, Spanish señal and Portuguese sinal.^[5][7] Meyer-Lübke noted that the word is feminine in Spanish.^[7]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *sekno- (“statue, sign”), which also gave Oscan words for a statue.^[8] De Vaan takes it from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”), the root of Latin secō (“to cut”): the noun first meant something cut or carved out, and so a mark.^[8][1] Wiktionary also mentions a root meaning “to follow” as an alternative.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, where Tristan and Iseult agree on a secret sign: Tristan muddies the stream that runs from the king's fountain when he wants to speak to her.^[4][2] The sense is a sign agreed between people to pass on news or a warning.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word also meant a portent (in the vernacular Bible), a banner or emblem (Antonio Pucci), and a sign of the zodiac, and in Boccaccio a sample of urine taken for examination.^[3][9] Boccaccio also uses it for a distinguishing mark on the body, a mole under the left breast in the Decameron.^[10]

With railways, roads and telecommunications the word came to name the devices that give such signs (railway signals, road signs) and, in electronics, the varying voltage or current that carries information.^[6][11][12] The sense “clue, symptom” is common in modern Italian, as in talk of signs of economic recovery.^[6][11] Derivatives followed: segnalare in the mid-16th century, segnalazione in 1853 and segnaletica, road signs as a whole, in 1942.^[5]

Timeline

• 12th century – Gallo-Italian seignal is recorded in the Sermoni subalpini.^[3]
• Late 13th century – Segnale appears in the Novellino.^[4][6]
• 14th century – Boccaccio uses the word for a mark on the body.^[10][3]
• Mid-16th century – The verb segnalare is first recorded.^[5]
• 1853 – Segnalazione is first recorded.^[5]
• 1901 – Segnaletico is taken from French signalétique.^[5]
• 1942 – Segnaletica “road signs” is first recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A visual or acoustic sign, usually agreed in advance, that passes on news, a message or an order: Al segnale del capitano, tutti si alzarono.^[6][11][13]
2. A device that gives such signs, such as an alarm.^[6][11]
3. A road sign (segnale stradale).^[6][12]
4. A railway signal, a semaforo.^[6][14]
5. A sign or clue from which something can be inferred: Non vedo segnali di miglioramento.^[6][11]
6. (electronics) A voltage, current or other physical quantity that varies in time and carries information, as in segnale audio and segnale video.^[6][13][12]
7. A bookmark, a segnalibro.^[6][13]

Word family

• segnalare
• segnalazione
• segnalamento
• segnalatore
• segnaletica
• segnaletico

Related words

• segno
• segnalibro
• Latin signum
• French signal

Usage notes

Set phrases include segnale orario, the time signal on radio and television, segnale d'allarme, the emergency brake handle on trains, and segnale di fumo, a smoke signal.^[12][11][6] The GDLI also records a rare dialect segnale “wild boar”, a central and southern variant of cignale (cinghiale), in a 15th-century poem by Prudenzani.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 464
3. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3442
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 905
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 468