spugna

Forms

spugna f (plural spugne)^[1] Old forms include spongia, ispogna, spogna, spungia, spunza and sponga.^[2][3][4][5] Venetian has sponga.^[6][7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spongia (“sponge”), the popular outcome of the Latin word.^[8][2][9][1] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek σπογγιά (spongiá), from σπόγγος (spóngos, “sponge”).^[10][11][1] DELI and Treccani think the Greek word is probably of Mediterranean origin, and GRADIT calls it probably pre-Indo-European.^[2][11][9] Wiktionary makes Latin fungus a doublet from the same substrate source.^[1]

Devoto explains the ⟨u⟩ from ⟨o⟩ by the following ⟨-ng-⟩, as in unghia and ungere.^[12] Catalan esponja, Spanish esponja and Portuguese esponja continue the Latin word as well, while French éponge and Occitan esponga go back to a Vulgar Latin *sponga.^[8] The DEI takes this form to be a back-formation from the Latin word, not recorded in the glosses, and finds it in Venetian and in the dialect of Lecce too.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is ispogna in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, for the soft skeleton of the sponge that soaks up water.^[2][9] The Latinising spongia is in Restoro in 1282, for the sea animal.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante has the form spugna before 1321.^[2] Renaissance naturalists translating Dioscorides wrote of sponghe (1542) and spugne (1544), the sea animals.^[2] The word was later applied to anything porous: spugne were pitted stones used in grottoes and gardens, and popularly the word named the mammary gland.^[3][6]

The terry cotton used for towels and bathrobes is called spugna from 1940.^[2] In the figurative sense spugna is a heavy drinker, and bere come una spugna to drink a great deal.^[9][13] The morel is called spugnola (1838) because its cap is pitted like a sponge.^[2][8]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini writes ispogna.^[2]
• 1282 – Restoro writes spongia and spongioso.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante writes spugna.^[2]
• 1513 – The diminutive spugnetta appears in Liburnio.^[2]
• 1544 – Mattioli's Dioscorides has a chapter on sponges.^[2]
• 1838 – Spugnola “morel” is recorded.^[2][8]
• 1940 – Spugna is recorded for terry cloth.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) A sponge, any of the aquatic animals of the phylum Porifera.^[9][14][15]
2. The dried skeleton of some sponges, which soaks up liquids and is used for washing and cleaning: si lavava la schiena con la spugna.^[9][14][13]
3. An artificial sponge of rubber or plastic: una spugna per i piatti.^[9][15][13]
4. (figurative) A heavy drinker: bere come una spugna, to drink like a fish.^[9][13][1]
5. terry cloth, a soft absorbent cotton fabric with uncut loops, used for towels and bathrobes; by extension a towel of it.^[9][15]
6. (chemistry) A porous form of a metal: spugna di platino.^[15][9]

Word family

• spugnoso
• spugnola
• spugnetta
• spugnatura
• spugnare
• spugnosità
• spugnone

Related words

• Latin spongia
• Latin fungus
• French éponge

Usage notes

Gettare la spugna means to give up, to throw in the towel.^[9] Passare la spugna on something, or dare un colpo di spugna, is to forget it and not speak of it again.^[13][16] The verb spugnare is recorded from the 16th century.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 943
4. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3605
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli