segugio

Forms

segugio m (plural segugi)^[1] Old forms include seùgio, segùs, segùscio, seguso, seuso and seccùscio.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin segūsius, a hunting dog, recorded in the Lex Salica in the 6th century.^[4][5][6][1] DELI, Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli consider it probably Gaulish.^[7][8][9] Nocentini takes it from the name of the breed's homeland, that of the Gaulish ⟨Segusiavi⟩ of the Loire basin.^[4] Wiktionary instead traces it to Proto-Celtic *sekʷetor (“to follow”), from Proto-Indo-European *sékʷetor.^[1] The Lex Burgundionum has a form segutius, whose relation to the other is unclear.^[10][11]

The ⟨-gi-⟩ from Latin ⟨-sj-⟩, as in cagione, shows that the word did not develop in Tuscany.^[6] Devoto explains it as a Tuscan reduction of a northern lenited form, where regular Tuscan would have ⟨-scio⟩.^[12] Meyer-Lübke derived the Italian word from the Old Venetian form seuso, with the ⟨-g-⟩ taken from seguire.^[10] Prati allows that the old forms may come from the Venetian one, but thinks the Italian word can continue the Late Latin word directly.^[3]

The same word is Lombard savüs, Old French seus or saus, Old Occitan sahus, Spanish sabueso and Portuguese sabujo.^[10][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bono Giamboni, before 1292, explains that some dogs follow the quarry to the end and hunt it down, “and they are called segugi” (e chiamansi segugi).^[7][2] GRADIT dates the word to the first half of the 13th century, and the Lombard Uguccione da Lodi has segus beside greyhounds on the leash.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Old poets used the hound for the pursuer in love: Iacopo da Leona and Chiaro Davanzati write segùscio.^[2] Folgore da San Gimignano lists segugi da traccia, tracking hounds, among the pleasures of a February hunt, and Crescenzi's translation says hares are found with dogs called segugi or bracchetti.^[2][11]

The detective sense, a police agent on someone's trail, is recorded from 1864 in Guerrazzi.^[7] In thieves' slang the word gave seguzzare or segusare “to search”.^[6][3] Today the segugio italiano is a breed of medium size with short hair and drooping ears, kept for hunting hares.^[8][13]

Timeline

• 6th century – Late Latin segusius is recorded in the Lex Salica.^[4]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses segugi.^[7]
• 14th century – The translation of Crescenzi uses the word.^[6][3]
• 1864 – Guerrazzi uses segugio for a police agent.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hound trained to track and chase game by scent: Il cacciatore ha liberato i segugi nel bosco.^[5][8][14]
2. (figurative) A skilled and tenacious detective or investigator, a sleuth.^[5][8][14]
3. (derogatory) A police agent, a cop.^[5][13]

Word family

• segugista

Related words

• Late Latin segusius
• Spanish sabueso

Usage notes

Segugio italiano and segugio tirolese are names of breeds.^[5][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 503
3. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 906
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3443
7. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse