Etymologically
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sigaretta

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Pronunciation

  • /si.ɡaˈret.ta/[1]

Forms

sigaretta f (plural sigarette)[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive, from Italian sigaro (“cigar”) + -etta, formed on the model of French cigarette, recorded in 1831.[2][3][4][5] Devoto calls it a calque of the French word.[6] DEI derives it from French directly.[7]

The base sigaro came, probably through French cigare (1770), from Spanish cigarro (1610).[2][3] DELI explains the Spanish word as perhaps from cigarra (“cicada”), from the likeness of a cigar to the insect's body.[2] Nocentini traces it to Yucatec Maya zicar (“to smoke”), with the form attracted to cigarra.[3] The masculine diminutive sigaretto was formed in 1834, eleven years earlier.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the form cigaretta in 1845, in a work titled Il tabacco vendicato.[2] In 1875 the Rigutini–Fanfani dictionary still described sigaretta as the same as spagnoletta and as little used in Tuscany.[2]

Semantic evolution

Writers of the late 19th and 20th centuries use the word for the paper-rolled cigarette: in Carducci a man takes out a cigarette and lights it, and in Serao a troubled character cannot even smoke “his eternal cigarettes”.[8] Carlo Emilio Gadda wrote the dialect form sigheretta.[8] The sigaretta medicinale, made with medicinal leaves or powders, was smoked against bronchial asthma.[8][9]

From 1960 the word is recorded for anything shaped like a cigarette, such as the chocolate cigarette.[2][10] It also names a small spool of sewing thread, the same as spagnoletta, and a device that ignites the fuel when a semi-diesel engine is started from cold.[4][11] A sigaretta describes narrow, straight-cut trousers or skirts.[12][9] The sigaretta elettronica is the e-cigarette.[5][9] Icelandic borrowed the word as Icelandic sígaretta.[1]

Timeline

  • 1831 – French cigarette is recorded.[4]
  • 1834 – Guadagnoli uses the masculine sigaretto.[2]
  • 1845 – Cigaretta is first recorded in Italian.[2][3]
  • 1875 – Rigutini–Fanfani record sigaretta as little used in Tuscany.[2]
  • 1960 – The sense “object shaped like a cigarette” is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. cigarette: a small cylinder of finely cut tobacco rolled in thin paper, for smoking: Si è acceso una sigaretta sul balcone.[4][5][10]
  2. (by extension) Anything shaped like a cigarette: sigaretta di cioccolato.[10][12][11]
  3. A small cardboard or plastic spool with sewing thread wound on it; spagnoletta.[4][10][11]
  4. (mechanics) A device that ignites the fuel when a semi-diesel engine is started from cold.[4][11]

Word family

  • sigarettista

Usage notes

Pantaloni a sigaretta are trousers that narrow slightly between the calf and the ankle.[5][12]

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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  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. 3492
  8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  10. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli