sigaro

Forms

sigaro m (plural sigari, diminutive sigarétto (“cigarillo”) or sigarétta f (“cigarette”) or sigarìno, derogatory sigaràccio)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish cigarro, probably taken through French cigare, recorded in 1770.^[2][3][4] The French diminutive cigarette (1831) gave sigaretta and sigaretto in the same way.^[2] The first Italian forms kept the Spanish shape, cigarros and cigarro;^[2][5] cigaro, zigaro and the present form followed, the last with the Tuscan pronunciation.^[2][5]

The origin of the Spanish word (1610) is uncertain.^[2][4][6] DELI suggests that it comes from cigarra (“cicada”), from the likeness of the rolled leaf to the insect's body.^[2] Nocentini, Meyer-Lübke and Prati derive it from a Maya verb for smoking, Yucatec Maya zicar in Nocentini, with the Spanish form shaped by the word for the cicada.^[3][7][5] Other dictionaries give the Maya word as jigar or zizar.^[8][9][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is cigarros, in G. P. Bergantini before 1764, for a small roll of dried tobacco leaves for smoking.^[2][3] In 1829 Boerio's Venetian dictionary calls cigàro a Spanish word in common use for only a few years.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The forms competed through the 19th century: cigaro (1824), sigaro (1834, in the comic verse of Guadagnoli), cigarro (1838) and zigaro (1842) appear in the Milanese press and in writers, and in 1877 Fanfani and Arlìa judged sigaro the form accepted by usage.^[2] GDLI quotes zigaro from Tarchetti and sigarro from Pananti.^[10]

Derivatives followed the spread of tobacco works: sigaraio, a tobacco worker (1863), sigaraia (1873), and sigariera, a cigar case (1851).^[2][3] In mountaineers' language a sigaro is a small rock spire shaped like a cigar.^[4][9] The word is Sicilian sicarru in Sicily.^[1]

Timeline

• Before 1764 – G. P. Bergantini has the form cigarros.^[2]
• 1824 – Cigaro is recorded in the Milanese press.^[2][4]
• 1829 – Boerio's dictionary calls cigàro a recent Spanish word in Venice.^[2]
• 1834 – Guadagnoli writes sigaro, and also sigaretto.^[2]
• 1845 – Cigaretta is recorded;^[2] sigaretta follows by 1875.^[2]
• 1863 – Sigaraio “tobacco worker” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1877 – Fanfani and Arlìa note that usage has settled on sigaro.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. cigar: a roll of one or more cured tobacco leaves, lit at one end and smoked from the other: un sigaro toscano.^{[4][11][9][1]}
2. (mountaineering) A small cigar-shaped rock spire.^[4][9]

Word family

• sigaretta
• sigaretto
• sigaraio
• sigaraia
• sigariera
• portasigari

Related words

• tabacco
• Spanish cigarro
• French cigare

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 918
6. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier