Etymologically
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spazzatura

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Pronunciation

  • /spat.t͡saˈtu.ra/[1]

Forms

spazzatura f (plural spazzature)[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian spazzare (“to sweep”) + -tura.[2][1][3] The form Medieval Latin spazatura is recorded at Bologna in 1252, before the Italian word.[4]

DELI derives it from Late Latin spatiō, a variant of the deponent Latin spatior (“to walk about; to spread out”), from spatium (“space”);[4][1] Wiktionary also takes it from the Latin verb.[4][1] Nocentini forms it in Italian from Old Italian spazzo (“floor”), the popular outcome of the same noun, with the sense “to clear the floor”.[5] The learned spaziare and spazio continue the same Latin words.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to before 1292.[2][6] DELI's first certain record is Boccaccio's Decameron (1353), with the sense “what is swept up”; the older record from the sermons of Giordano da Pisa, given in the Crusca dictionaries, cannot be checked.[4] Boccaccio's line is un che va ricogliendo la spazzatura da santa Maria a Verzaia, “a man who goes round gathering the sweepings from Santa Maria a Verzaia”.[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its sense of house and street sweepings through the centuries, from Franco Sacchetti and Vespasiano da Bisticci to Verga and D'Annunzio, and widened to refuse of every kind.[7] The old texts have forms such as spazadura and spazzadura.[7] The action of sweeping itself is recorded only in 1873, in Tommaseo's dictionary, and is now uncommon.[4][9]

Figuratively, spazzatura is anything worthless, and contemptuously people treated as worthless.[2][10] Placed after a noun as an invariable adjective (tv spazzatura, cibo spazzatura) it renders English trash and junk.[3][11][6] The street sweeper is a spazzino (1632), and the motor sweeper a spazzatrice (1916).[4]

Timeline

  • 1252 – Medieval Latin spazatura is recorded at Bologna.[4]
  • Before 1292 – First record of the Italian word, according to GRADIT.[2]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio's Decameron uses spazzatura for sweepings.[4]
  • 1873 – The sense “act of sweeping” appears in Tommaseo's dictionary.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. rubbish, garbage: dirt that is swept up, and household waste in general: Chi porta giù la spazzatura stasera?[2][3][11]
  2. (figurative, derogatory) Worthless stuff; also people regarded as contemptible: Quel giornale scrive solo spazzatura.[2][3][10]
  3. (uncommon) The act of sweeping, especially of streets.[2][3][9]

Adjective

  1. (invariable, after a noun) Of very poor quality, trashy: tv spazzatura, cibo spazzatura (junk food).[3][11][6]

Word family

  • spazzaturaio

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 758
  8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  10. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse