Etymologically
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spada

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Pronunciation

Forms

spada f (plural spade)[1] Old Italian also has spata, in Giacomo da Lentini and Guittone d'Arezzo.[2][3] The TLIO lists northern forms such as spadha and spae.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spatha (“weaver's batten; broad sword”), a word Latin took from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “spatula, broad blade”).[5][6][7][1][8] The Latin word meant both the weaver's flat wooden blade for beating the weft and a sword with a broad blade.[6][2] The same word is French épée, Occitan espaza, Catalan espasa, Spanish espada, Portuguese espada, Sardinian ispada and Romanian spată, which means “shoulder”.[6][9] The Latin noun also lies behind spalla and spatola.[6]

The /d/ for Latin /t/ is the northern voicing of the consonant between vowels, and the older Tuscan form was spata.[10][9][11] Migliorini, quoted by DELI, thought the word may have spread in Italy from the arms workshops of Lombardy.[5]

Nocentini notes that the Greek word, like the Latin one, meant any flat tool held by a handle, and compares the Germanic words for a spade, English spade and German Spaten.[6] DEI considered the Greek word probably not Greek in origin, while Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Indo-European *sph₂dʰh₁éh₂.[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Italian record is a surname, Quido dela Spada, in Tuscan fragments of 1211.[5][7] The TLIO's first text is the Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum of the late 12th century, with the sense of a weapon with a straight, pointed blade.[4][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the sword stood for war and for soldiers, for the temporal power of the Church, for justice and for moral suffering.[4] Dante wrote that molte volte taglia / più e meglio una, che le cinque spade (“many times one sword cuts more and better than five”).[3] Spadaio, the sword-maker, is in Dante (1304–1308), after Medieval Latin spadarius at Bologna in 1283.[5] The large two-edged spadone and the spadaccino who handles a sword well appear in the 16th century.[5][6]

The plural spade has been one of the suits of Neapolitan playing cards and tarot since 1442.[5][7] Redi named the swordfish pesce spada in the 17th century, probably translating Latin gladius and xiphias;[12] Sicilian and Calabrian say spatu and piscispatu.[12] In fencing spada is the épée, the weapon that scores only with the point.[7][13]

English took the card suit as spade (1598), and German has Spada from 1876.[14] Through Polish szpada the word reached Russian шпага.[1]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur use the word.[4]
  • 1211 – The surname Quido dela Spada is recorded in Tuscany.[5][7]
  • 1283 – Medieval Latin spadarius “sword-maker” is recorded at Bologna.[5]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses spadaio.[5]
  • 1442 – Spade are recorded as a suit of playing cards at the Este court.[5]
  • Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses spadaccino.[5]
  • 1598 – English spade for the card suit is recorded.[14]
  • 17th century – Francesco Redi names the swordfish pesce spada.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. sword, a weapon with a long straight pointed blade and a hilt: Il cavaliere estrasse la spada dal fodero.[7][15][13][1]
  2. (fencing) épée, the weapon with a triangular blade that scores only with the point.[7][15][13][1]
  3. (by metonymy) A swordsman, a soldier: Era la miglior spada del reggimento..[7][13]
  4. (by metonymy) Armed force, war.[7][13]
  5. (figurative) A defender of a cause or ideal.[7]
  6. (heraldry) A sword as a charge on a shield.[7][1]
  7. (in the plural) Swords, one of the suits of Neapolitan cards and tarot, corresponding to spades.[7][13][1]

Word family

  • spadaccino
  • spadaio
  • spadino
  • spadista
  • spadone
  • spadona
  • spadiforme
  • spalla
  • spatola
  • pesce spada
  • Latin spatha
  • French épée

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include a spada tratta “wholeheartedly, with all one's energy”, passare a fil di spada “to put to the sword”, spada di Damocle “a constant threat”, and the proverb chi di spada ferisce di spada perisce “who lives by the sword dies by the sword”.[15][16][17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 934
  3. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3573
  12. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3574
  13. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  15. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  16. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana