spoglia

Forms

spoglia f (plural spoglie)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spŏlia (“spoils, booty”), the neuter plural of the Latin noun, taken as a feminine singular.^[2][3][4][1] The singular meant first of all the skin stripped off an animal, and DELI and GRADIT give its original sense as “piece cut off”.^[3][2][4] The word is Old French espoille, and with a prefix French dépouille and Old Occitan despolha.^[5] The old Old Italian scoglia (“hide; slough of a snake”) is the same word crossed with scorza or scaglia.^[5]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *spoli(o)- (“skin, hide”) and Proto-Indo-European *spol(H)-i(o)- (“what is split, stripped off”), probably from a root meaning “to split, cleave”.^[6] It is cognate with Ancient Greek σπολάς (spolás, “leather garment”), Lithuanian spãlis and German spalten (“to split”).^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in Dante (1300–1313), where the word means both a corpse and, in the plural, the spoils taken from a defeated warrior.^[2] He also uses it for the leaves a tree sheds: fin che 'l ramo / vede a la terra tutte le sue spoglie (“until the branch sees all its spoils on the ground”).^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Before 1321 Dante used it more generally for whatever one strips off, and Boiardo, before 1494, for the slough of a snake.^[2] The DEI lists later uses: Cellini's coating applied to the mould for casting statues, Vasari's archaeological remains, the ecclesiastical spogli that went to the pope, and in the 19th century a sheet of pasta.^[9] The GDLI records an old form spoia.^[10]

As “garment” the word survives in sotto mentite spoglie, under a false guise.^[11][7] As “mortal remains” it reflects the Christian idea of the body as the soul's garment, as in Manzoni's stette la spoglia immemore.^[12][13][4] Spoglie opime were, for the Romans, the arms of an enemy king or general offered to the gods, and figuratively a rich prize.^[11] Engineering has given it technical senses in foundry patterns and cutting tools.^[4][13]

Timeline

• 1300–1313 – Dante uses spoglia for a corpse and spoglie for the spoils of war.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for whatever one strips off.^[2]
• Before 1494 – Boiardo uses it for the cast skin of an animal.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A garment or covering, in particular in sotto mentite spoglie, in disguise.^[4][12][11]
2. (literary) The body as mortal remains; a corpse: le spoglie mortali.^[4][11][13]
3. (zoology) The slough or cast skin of a moulting animal, the esuvia: Sul sasso c'era la spoglia di una vipera.^[4][12][14]
4. (literary, plural) The leaves of a tree.^[4][14]
5. (regional) The husk of maize; the scale of a bulb.^[12][13]
6. (plural) The arms stripped from a defeated enemy; booty, spoils of war; figuratively, a rich prize.^[4][11][14]
7. (technical) The draft of the vertical faces of a foundry pattern; the rake of a cutting tool.^[4][13][14]

Related words

• spogliare
• spoglio
• Latin spolium

Usage notes

Spoglia in the regional sense of a sheet of pasta is a variant of sfoglia.^[10][11] The adjective spoglio “bare”, a short form of spogliato, has the feminine spoglia.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b 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 Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3598
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 976
11. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
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 c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana