succiare

Forms

succiare (first-person singular present sùccio, first-person singular past historic succiài, past participle succiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *suctiāre (“to suck”), formed on Latin sūctus, the past participle of sūgō (“to suck”) (see suggere).^[2][3][4] GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti call it an intensive of the Latin verb, and Treccani and the GDLI give the Latin form as probable.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} According to Alessio, quoted by DELI, it came through Old French sucier.^[2] Devoto thought it came through a northern form that Tuscan speech then adapted.^[10] Meyer-Lübke wondered whether it is rather a nursery word.^[11]

The same formation gave French sucer, Portuguese chuchar and Romansh tschütscher in the Engadine.^[3][11][12] The Latin verb continues Proto-Indo-European *seug- (“to suck”), and the same root gave Old English sūcan.^[13]

Italian also has the variant suzzare, and succhiare beside it.^[11][6][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the first record to Dante, before 1321, with the sense “to suck”;^[2][5][15] GRADIT and Zingarelli give 1312–1313.^[2][5][15]

Semantic evolution

Old texts use the verb of sucking liquids: the vernacular Gregory the Great has people suck honey from the rock, and Antonio Pucci a thirsty man who wounds a horse and sucks its blood.^[9] In the 16th century Grazzini has a man suck two eggs in one go.^[9]

Compounds name creatures thought to suck: succiamele, the broomrape, which draws the sap (“honey”) of other plants (before 1492), and succiacapre, the nightjar (1838), which was believed to suck the milk of goats.^[2][3]

Today the word is regional, above all Tuscan, and popular.^[5][6][8] The pronominal succiarsi means to savour something slowly, and figuratively to put up with something tiresome, as Manzoni's Gertrude has to endure the old nun's congratulations.^[6][15][8]

Timeline

• 1312–1313 – GRADIT's and Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[5][15]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses succiare.^[2]
• Before 1492 – succiamele is recorded in Bellincioni.^[2]
• 1838 – succiacapre “nightjar” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1838 – Devoto–Oli date the popular variant suzzare to this year.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (regional, Tuscany, popular) To suck: succiare un'arancia.^{[5][6][16][1]}
2. (as succiarsi) To suck or sip slowly, savouring: succiarsi il pollice, succiarsi un liquorino.^[7][15][8]
3. (figurative, as succiarsi) To endure, to put up with something tiresome: succiarsi una lunga predica.^{[6][7][15][4]}
4. (figurative, literary) To take for oneself, to absorb.^[15][4]

Word family

• succiacapre
• succiamele
• risucciare
• succiamento
• succiatoio
• succiatore
• succio
• succiola
• succione

Related words

• succhiare
• suggere
• suzzare
• French sucer

Usage notes

In popular Tuscan the past participle succiato means “drawn, haggard” of a face.^[8] The present is io succio and the future io succerò.^[15][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 431
11. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 961
15. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana