serpa

Forms

serpa f (plural serpe)^[1] In Tuscany it is serpe.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

For Nocentini it is borrowed from Ligurian serpa (“coach box”), the Genoese word, from Vulgar Latin *scirpa, which stands for the classical form Latin scirpea (“large basket; transport crate”), from scirpus (“bulrush”).^[2] The other dictionaries derive it straight from the Latin noun or its variant sirpea, a basket of woven rushes that was set on a cart.^{[5][3][6][4][7][1]} The Latin noun is the adjective scirpeus used as a noun, and the form sirp- may come from a dissimilation.^[7][8] Zingarelli calls scirpus of uncertain origin.^[4]

The Latin basket survives in Asturian escripia, the hazel basket of a cart.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to 1561, and the GDLI quotes Citolini for montare in serpa, climbing onto the coachman's seat.^[5][11] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli give 1805.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The coach box is the word's sense throughout: Brusoni's man jumps in serpa and drives home, Manzoni writes sulla serpe in Fermo e Lucia, and D'Annunzio's coachmen doze in serpe.^[11] In the diligence it also named the covered seat behind and above the driver's.^[5][7]

In wooden ships serpa is the projecting head of the bow, which bore the figurehead and supported the bowsprit and where the crew's latrines were.^[3][7][1]

Timeline

• 1561 – Citolini uses montare in serpa.^[5][11]
• 1805 – The date of Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli.^[2][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The coach box, the driver's seat of a carriage; in a diligence, the covered raised seat behind it: il vetturino salì in serpa.^[5][3][12]
2. (nautical, historical) The head, the projecting part of a ship's bow that carried the figurehead and the bowsprit, where the crew's latrines were.^[5][3][12]

Related words

• scirpo
• Latin scirpea

Usage notes

The usual phrases are montare, salire or sedere in serpa.^[12][13] Gabrielli also gives prua a serpa, a bow with a strongly projecting upper part.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
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. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ 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)
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 732
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli