sgusciare

Forms

sgusciare (first-person singular present sgùscio, first-person singular past historic sgusciài, past participle sgusciàto, auxiliary èssere)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian s- + guscio + -are, a parasynthetic verb in which the prefix takes away: “to take out of the shell”.^[2][3][4][5] DELI places all its senses under this one verb, including “to slip away, escape” (1550), and Devoto–Oli sees in that sense a slang use of the verb for shelling.^[2][4] Devoto too thought these figurative uses perhaps came from slang.^[6] DEI agrees, but adds that a sound-imitative origin cannot be ruled out for “to slip away”.^[7]

Other sources separate the slipping verb.^[8][5][9] Nocentini dates it to the 16th century, with the Tuscan form sguisciare, and derives it probably from a Vulgar Latin *visciare (“to be slimy”), formed with s- from Latin viscum (“mistletoe; birdlime”).^[8] For him the Tuscan ⟨sgui-⟩ is closer to the source, from ⟨svi-⟩ treated as if it were Germanic, and he compares Old French guischer (“to slip from the hands like an eel”), which Alessio traced to gui (“mistletoe”).^[8] Meyer-Lübke, Treccani, the Hoepli dictionary and Wiktionary take it as probably sound-imitative, and Meyer-Lübke expressly denied that it comes from the word for the shell.^{[10][9][11][1]} Sabatini–Coletti call it of uncertain origin, perhaps the shelling verb crossed with sguizzare.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Lorenzo de' Medici, who died in 1492, in the sense “to take out of the shell”.^[2] One of his songs has of some beans le sgusciate, “you shell them”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to slip away, slip out of the hand” is recorded from 1550, in C. Bartoli.^[2] In 1573 Mattioli's commentary on Dioscorides used the reflexive of reptiles that shed their skins every year, like snakes.^[2] Manzoni's final edition of I promessi sposi (1840–1842) has per isgusciar fuori della folla, “to slip out of the crowd”, where the earlier edition had sdrucciolare.^[2] The sense “to hatch”, of birds, is recorded in 1916.^[2]

Today the verb also means to emerge suddenly, of people or of ideas, and to dodge an obligation; in craft use it means to hollow a moulding.^[3][4][9]

Timeline

• Before 1492 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses the verb for shelling.^[2]
• 1550 – C. Bartoli uses it for slipping away.^[2]
• 1573 – Mattioli uses it of reptiles shedding their skin.^[2]
• 1773 – G. Targioni Tozzetti records sgusciatura.^[2]
• 1840–1842 – Manzoni puts isgusciar fuori into I promessi sposi.^[2]
• 1916 – The sense “to hatch” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To shell, take out of the shell or pod: sgusciare le mandorle.^{[3][4][5][13]}
2. (transitive) To work into a sguscio, a hollow moulding.^[3][4][5][9]
3. (intransitive) Of chicks and other young of egg-laying animals, to hatch.^[3][4][13]
4. (pronominal) Of pulses, to come out of the pod; of reptiles, to shed the skin.^[4][5][13]
5. (intransitive) To slip out of someone's grip: la saponetta gli è sgusciata dalle dita.^{[3][4][13][9]}
6. (intransitive) To slip away, sneak off unnoticed.^{[3][4][5][13]}
7. (intransitive) Of people or ideas, to emerge or appear suddenly.^[3][9]
8. (figurative) To evade an obligation or something unwelcome.^[3][4][9]

Word family

• sgusciatura
• sguscio
• sgusciatore
• sgusciatrice
• neosgusciato

Related words

• guscio
• sguisciare

Usage notes

Devoto–Oli, Zingarelli, Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani list the shelling verb and the slipping verb as separate headwords.^{[4][13][5][9]} Both take essere when intransitive;^[4][5] Tuscan also has sguisciare for slipping away.^[4][5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3486
8. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli