spinoso

Forms

spinoso (feminine spinosa, masculine plural spinosi, feminine plural spinose, superlative spinosissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spīnōsus (“thorny”), formed from spīna (“thorn”) with the suffix -ōsus.^[2][3][1][4] Wiktionary allows that it may also be an Italian formation from spina with -oso.^[1] Devoto–Oli derives the Latin adjective from spīnus (“thornbush”) instead.^[5]

The word is pan-Romance: French épineux, Occitan espinós, Catalan espinós, Spanish espinoso, Portuguese espinhoso, Sardinian ispinosu and Romanian spinos.^[2][6][7] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *speinā- and Proto-Indo-European *spein-, perhaps the same base as spīca (“ear of grain”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Milanese poems of Bonvesin de la Riva (before 1315), of a plant or branch covered in thorns: the rose sor la rama spinosa, “on the thorny branch”.^[9][10][11] Zingarelli dates the word to before 1294, GRADIT to before 1320.^[12][3]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used it of plants, of places overgrown with brambles (and so rough and wild), and of animals covered in spines.^[10] The figurative sense “difficult, full of difficulties” is found in the 14th-century translation of Saint John Chrysostom.^[9] Petrarch writes of the spinoso calle, the thorny path.^[13]

As a noun spinoso named the hedgehog or the porcupine from the early 14th century, and Tuscany still says porco spinoso and spinoso for the porcupine.^{[10][13][5][14]} A Tuscan proverb, come disse lo spinoso alla serpe: chi non ci può star se ne vada, was said of the powerful who do not give up their comfort for others.^[13][14] Today the word also describes a delicate or embarrassing question, a prickly temper, and in anatomy a bony spine, as in processo spinoso.^[3][15][12]

Timeline

• Before 1315 – Bonvesin de la Riva uses spinoso of a thorny branch.^[9][10]
• Early 14th century – The noun spinoso is used of the hedgehog or porcupine.^[10]
• 14th century – The figurative sense “full of difficulties” is recorded.^[9]
• 14th century – Spinosità is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. thorny, prickly, covered in thorns or spines: un roveto spinoso.^[3][5][15]
2. (colloquial) Bristly, rough: una barba spinosa.^[3][16]
3. (figurative) Full of difficulties, hard to deal with; delicate, embarrassing: una faccenda spinosa.^[3][5][12]
4. (figurative) Prickly, surly (of a person or temper).^[3]
5. (anatomy) Of or relating to a bony spine: processo spinoso.^[3][15][12]

Noun

1. (regional, Tuscany) The porcupine; porcospino.^[5][12][16]

Word family

• spinosità

Related words

• spina
• spino
• porcospino
• Latin spinosus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana