staggio

Forms

staggio m (plural staggi)^[1] An older feminine form is staggia.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin stadium (“stadium, a measure of length”).^[5][6][7][1] It is the popular outcome of the Latin word, beside the learned stadio.^[3][4][1] According to Nocentini the Latin word was used for a graduated pole for measuring, whence the name passed to the poles that hold the rungs of a ladder and the sticks that hold up nets.^[6] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek στάδιον (stádion).^[1][8]

The word is found in the dialects too: Romagnol stadza at Imola and a Teramo form meaning a measure of length.^[9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Nocentini date the first record before 1320, and Zingarelli to 1287.^[7][6][10] DELI's first dated quotation is the Italian translation of Crescenzi, about 1350, for the stick on which nets are held up.^[5][11]

Semantic evolution

From the poles that hold fowling nets the word spread to many long pieces of wood used in pairs: the uprights of a ladder (1772), the bars of a bird cage (before 1735), the two side pieces of a chair's back (1875) and the frame of a bow saw (1853).^[5] In the loom, the staggi are the uprights that move the lid of the reed case.^[7][12] In gymnastics the word names the bars of the parallel bars.^[7][13][2]

The old sense, a graduated rod for measuring, the same as stazza, is now archaic.^[13][2][14] DEI dates the verb staggiare “to prop up overloaded fruit trees” to 1813.^[4][15]

Timeline

• Before 1320 – First record.^[7][6]
• About 1350 – The translation of Crescenzi uses staggi for the sticks that hold up nets.^[5][11]
• Before 1735 – Forteguerri uses it for the bars of a cage.^[5]
• 1772 – The uprights of a ladder.^[5]
• 1813 – Staggiare is recorded.^[4]
• 1853 – Carena records the frame of a bow saw.^[5]
• 1875 – Rigutini and Fanfani record the side pieces of a chair's back.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long piece of wood or other material, usually round in section and used in pairs, that supports, stretches or holds together a structure, such as each upright of a ladder, the side pieces of a chair's back or the bars of a cage: uno staggio della scala si è incrinato.^{[7][13][3][2]}
2. (hunting) A pole at the side of a fowling net that holds it up.^[7][10][2]
3. (gymnastics) Each of the two bars of the parallel bars.^[7][10][14]
4. (weaving) Each of the uprights of a loom joined to the reed case.^[7]
5. (archaic) A graduated rod for measuring; a stazza.^[7][13][3]

Word family

• staggiare

Related words

• stadio
• stazza
• Latin stadium

Usage notes

GRADIT lists three obsolete words of the same spelling.^[7] Staggio “hostage” (13th century) is ostaggio without its first syllable.^[7][12] Staggio “dwelling, stay” (14th century) comes from Old French estage, from Vulgar Latin *staticum.^[7][4] The nautical staggio, the same as strallo or straglio, is this word crossed in meaning with straglio.^[7][2][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3613
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ 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. 20, 38
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 945