specchio

Forms

specchio m (plural specchi, diminutive specchiétto)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin speclum, the syncopated form of Latin spĕculum (“mirror”).^[1][2][3][4] The Latin word is formed on speciō (“to look”), properly “an instrument for looking”.^[3][5] De Vaan takes it as an instrument noun Proto-Italic *spek-tlo-, and traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”), comparing Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to look at”), with the consonants transposed, and Old High German spehōn (“to spy”).^[6][3]

The same word is Occitan espelh, Catalan espill, Spanish espejo and Portuguese espelho; through a form Vulgar Latin *speglum it passed into Old High German spiagal, modern German Spiegel.^[3][7] The poetic speglio was borrowed from Old Occitan espelh,^[8][7] and specolo is a learned doublet.^[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, with the sense “mirror”, a surface that reflects light regularly.^[2][4] The Sicilian and Tuscan poets had at least five words for it: miradore (Guittone), specchio, speglio (Palamidesse di Bellendote), spera and miraglio (Bondie Dietaiuti).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses it for anything that reflects or shows something (1300–1313), and Iacopone, before 1306, for a model to imitate.^[2] Ariosto (before 1533) and Firenzuola (before 1543) compare something spotless to a mirror, and netto come uno specchio is recorded in 1855.^[2] In 1677 Magalotti complained that the Crusca dictionary listed speglio beside specchio as if both were current.^[2]

Technical senses followed: the stern transom of a boat (1805), a table or summary of data (1826, in the Milanese press), the glass-bottomed viewer that fishermen use (1935), a calm stretch of water (1960) and, in sport, the face of the goal in football (1934) and the backboard in basketball (1970).^[2] specchietto is in Ariosto (1508); specchietto per le allodole, the lark-hunters' turning mirror, came to mean a trap for the gullible, and specchietto retrovisore dates from 1949.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses specchio.^[2][4]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses it for “model, example”.^[2]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “something that reflects”.^[2]
• 1508 – Ariosto uses specchietto.^[2]
• 1826 – the sense “table, summary” appears in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1934 – the football sense “face of the goal”.^[2]
• 1949 – specchietto retrovisore is recorded.^[2]
• 1970 – the basketball sense “backboard”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mirror: a sheet of glass coated on one side with metal that reflects light and gives an image of what is in front of it, used for grooming or as furniture: Si è guardata un'ultima volta allo specchio prima di uscire.^[4][10][11]
2. (figurative) Something that faithfully reflects or reveals a reality, a character or a feeling: gli occhi sono lo specchio dell'anima.^[4][11][12]
3. (figurative) A model of some virtue: uno specchio di pazienza.^[4][12]
4. A calm stretch of water;^[4][12] specchio d'acqua, a body or stretch of water.^[4][12]
5. (figurative) A spotlessly clean place: Dopo le pulizie la cucina è uno specchio.^[4][12]
6. A table or summary of data, a chart.^[11][2]
7. A cylinder with a glass bottom used by fishermen to see the sea floor.^[4][11]
8. (sports) In basketball, the backboard; in football, the face of the goal.^[11][2]

Word family

• specchiare
• specchiarsi
• specchiato
• specchiera
• specchietto
• specchiaio
• specchiatura
• rispecchiare

Related words

• speglio
• specolo
• Latin speculum
• German Spiegel

Usage notes

Arrampicarsi sugli specchi “to climb up mirrors” means to defend an untenable position with flimsy arguments.^[13][14] Specchio is also the first person singular present of specchiare; the GDLI records an old adjective specchio “done scrupulously”, a shortened past participle of the verb.^[15]

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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 936
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 767