sudicio

Forms

sudicio (feminine sudicia, masculine plural sudici, feminine plural sudice)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian sucido, with the consonants ⟨c⟩ and ⟨d⟩ swapped by metathesis.^[2][3][4][1] That older form is from Latin sūcidus (“juicy; of wool, still greasy”), from sūcus (“juice, sap”) with the suffix -idus.^[3][5][1] Latin writers used it above all for freshly shorn wool still full of the sheep's grease and sweat.^[3][6] Devoto saw in the metathesis a crossing of sucido with sudore “sweat”.^[7] The Italian Wiktionary compares the same swap in fradicio, from Latin fracidus.^[8]

DEI calls the word literary and strictly Tuscan; northern dialects keep a popular continuation in their names for unwashed wool, like French surge and Catalan sutza.^[9][10] A Vulgar Latin *sŭcidus gave Spanish sucio, Portuguese sujo and Old Occitan sotz, from which Italian sozzo was borrowed, so that the three Italian words are doublets.^[3][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dante already has sucido “dirty”, of the muddy waves of the Styx (su per le sucide onde).^[2][6] DEI dates sudicio from the 15th century, in Luca Pulci.^[9] Nocentini dates it from the early 16th century.^[3] DELI and GRADIT give before 1602, in Francesco Serdonati.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “dishonest, indecent” goes back to sucido in Boccaccio, before 1375.^[2] In the 16th century Muzio still noted that people said sudiccio for succido.^[11] The new form gradually displaced the old one, which survives only as a literary word, especially in lana sucida.^[4][6]

Of colours, sudicio means dull, not bright, from 1681 (Baldinucci).^[2] Used as a noun, il sudicio “filth” is recorded from 1873.^[2] The derivative sudiciume goes back to Dante's sucidume, and appears as sudiciume in Florio's dictionary of 1598.^[2] Treccani notes that sudicio, less worn by use than sporco, can carry a harsher judgement.^[12]

Timeline

• Before 1321 – Dante uses the older form sucido.^[2]
• Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses sucido for “indecent, immoral”.^[2]
• 15th century – Luca Pulci uses sudicio.^[9]
• 1598 – Sudiciume appears in Florio's dictionary.^[2]
• Before 1602 – Francesco Serdonati uses sudicio.^[2][4]
• 1681 – Baldinucci applies it to a dull colour.^[2]
• 1873 – The noun sudicio “filth” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Very dirty, filthy, stained: pantaloni sudici di terra.^{[4][13][14][1]}
2. (figurative) Of a person or deed, dishonest, shady, contemptible: un sudicio imbroglio.^[4][13][15]
3. (figurative) Indecent, obscene: barzellette sudicie.^[4][13][15]
4. Of a colour, dull, not bright.^[4][13][16]

Noun

1. filth, dirt: Quella cucina è piena di sudicio.^[4][13][15]
2. (figurative) Immorality, dishonesty: in quell'appalto c'era del sudicio.^[4][13][15]

Word family

• sudiciume
• sudicione
• sudiceria
• insudiciare
• sudiciamente

Related words

• sucido
• sozzo
• sugo
• Latin sūcidus

Usage notes

The feminine plural is sudice or sudicie.^[16][15] The older form sucido survives as a literary word.^[4]

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 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 e 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 k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 431
8. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3672
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 497
12. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli