strega

Forms

strega f (plural streghe)^[1] Northern Italian has Lombard stria, with Lombard strion “wizard”, and Venetian has striga.^[2][3] In Tuscany a masculine strego was also used, later in the sense “miser”.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin strĭga (“witch; screech owl”), recorded in Petronius, a popular variant of strīx (“screech owl”).^[5][6][7][1] The Latin word was taken from Ancient Greek στρίξ (stríx), a bird of the night, perhaps the eagle owl or the barn owl; the name is probably imitative, as in stridere.^[6][1] The Latin form comes from the Greek accusative στρίγα (stríga).^[8][1]

The Italian vowel /e/ continues the short /i/ of strĭga; the other Romance languages continue a form with a long vowel, strīga: Old French estrie, Portuguese estria, Sardinian istrìa and Romanian strigă.^[6][5][2] The owl was believed to foretell misfortune and to suck the blood of newborn children at night or to feed them poisoned milk, and so it came to stand for an evil being and then for a witch.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante's Commedia (1313–1319), for a woman believed to be in league with the powers of evil.^[6][7][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word belonged to sermons and verse: Domenico Cavalca called anyone who believed in witches a fool, and Iacomo de' Tolomei wrote of the “streghe che andavan in tregenda” (witches who went to the sabbath).^[9] The phrase darsi alle streghe “to despair” is recorded in the Pataffio.^[3] Derivatives followed in the 16th century: stregare, stregamento (1544, Mattioli) and stregheria (Lasca).^[4]

The sense “wicked woman; ugly old woman” is recorded before 1716, in Francesco Baldovini.^[5] Caccia alle streghe “witch-hunt”, in its figurative sense the search for a scapegoat, is a calque of English witch-hunt.^[10] Strega is also the name of a liqueur first made at Benevento.^[4]

Timeline

• 1313–1319 – Dante uses strega.^[6][7]
• 14th century – Domenico Cavalca and Iacomo de' Tolomei write of witches.^[9]
• 1544 – Mattioli uses stregamento “bewitchment”.^[4]
• Before 1716 – Francesco Baldovini uses strega for an ugly old woman.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A witch: a woman believed, especially in the Middle Ages, to have magic powers from dealings with the devil.^[7][10][1]
2. (jocular) A woman who seems to guess everything: Ma come lo sapevi? Sei una strega!^[7]
3. In fairy tales, an ugly old woman with evil magic powers.^[7][10]
4. (figurative, derogatory) A wicked, spiteful woman; an ugly old woman, a hag.^[7][10][1]
5. (figurative) A bewitching, seductive woman.^[10]
6. (regional, Tuscany) A waxed wick on a pole used to light the altar candles.^[7][10]

Word family

• stregare
• stregone
• stregoneria
• stregonesco
• stregheria

Related words

• strige
• Latin striga
• Latin strix

Usage notes

Colpo della strega is a sudden sharp pain in the back after a strain, lumbago.^[10][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
3. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 956
4. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3653
5. ^ a b c d e 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 e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier