spago

Forms

spago m (plural spaghi)^[1] Old and dialect forms are spaco and spao.^[2] Bari has spaco in 1465.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin spacus (“string”), a word of unknown origin.^[4][5][6][1] The ⟨-g-⟩ is a northern voicing of ⟨-c-⟩, according to Devoto.^[7] The form Medieval Latin spagus is found at Venice already in 1233.^[4] Apart from Italian, only Sardinian ispau continues it.^[5][3][8]

Several sources have been proposed for the Latin word.^[9][1][8] Devoto and Devoto–Oli take it as a variant of Latin scapus (“small board”), that is a spool for thread.^[7][9] Wiktionary suggests Ancient Greek σφάκος (sphákos).^[1] Körting cites a link with Ancient Greek σπάω (spáō, “to draw”) and Diez's derivation from a reconstructed *sparticius, from Latin spartum (“esparto”).^[8] Nocentini sees it as a loan from an unidentified source.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first Italian record is in Giacomino da Verona, in the second half of the 13th century, where the word is a cord.^[4][2] Nocentini dates it to 1289.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Dante's Inferno the shoemaker Asdente regrets not having kept to “the leather and the thread” (al cuoio e allo spago), and spago is still the waxed thread shoemakers use.^[10][11] The phrase la lesina e lo spago, “the awl and the thread”, means the shoemaker's trade.^[9][11] The diminutive spaghetto meant “small string” in 1352 and the long thin pasta from 1859.^[5]

Dare spago “to give someone string” is to encourage someone to talk or to take liberties, an image Zingarelli explains from tying up hens with a string to limit their movement.^[12][9] The proverb tre fili fanno uno spago, “three threads make a string”, means that union is strength.^[13][9][11]

The word went to German as spagen in 1570.^[14] DEI derives southern German Spagat (1591) from spaghetto and records Swiss German Spagen “string”.^[3] It was borrowed as Byzantine Greek σπάγγος (spángos), which passed into modern Greek and gave Albanian spango.^[1]

Timeline

• 1233 – Medieval Latin spagus is recorded at Venice.^[4]
• Second half of the 13th century – Giacomino da Verona uses spago.^[4][2]
• 1289 – Nocentini's date for the first record.^[5]
• 1352 – Spaghetto “small string” is recorded.^[5]
• 1465 – Spaco is recorded at Bari.^[3]
• 1570 – German spagen is recorded.^[14]
• 1591 – Southern German Spagat is recorded.^[3]
• 1859 – Spaghetto is used of pasta.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. string, twine: a thin cord of two or more twisted strands of hemp or other fibre, used to tie parcels: Ha chiuso la scatola con un pezzo di spago.^{[6][9][10][11]}
2. The twisted waxed thread shoemakers use to sew soles.^[6][9][15]
3. (nautical) The thinnest of the small lines used on board.^[6][11]
4. (colloquial, usually plural) spaghetti.^[9]

Word family

• spaghetto
• spaghettata
• spaghetteria

Related words

• Latin spacus
• Sardinian ispau

Usage notes

A separate spago means “fear” in familiar and jargon use, first recorded in Pulci about 1466.^[4][12] DELI and Prati explain it as a jargon substitute for filo, which meant “fear” from the 16th century, and Nocentini as a transferred use of spago “string”, whose motivation is not fully clear.^[4][16][5] The diminutive spaghetto has the same sense, recorded in Goldoni before 1793.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3575
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
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. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 934