sveglia

Forms

sveglia f (plural sveglie)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from svegliare (“to wake”) with no suffix, a deverbal noun.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The verb continues Vulgar Latin *exvigilāre, a variant of classical ēvigilō (“to wake up”), from vigilō (“to keep watch”) with ex-;^[2][3][1] DELI sets Old French esveillier beside it, and Wiktionary takes the verb probably through Old Occitan esvelhar.^[2][3][1] Meyer-Lübke lists the noun under the Latin verb and records it in Old Venetian, Tuscan, Roman, Neapolitan, Calabrian, Sicilian and Corsican.^[6]

For the old wind instrument of that name an older explanation, from Pott and Diez, took the name from Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌲𐌻𐌾𐌰 (swiglja, “piper”), beside Old High German swegala (“flute”);^[7][8] Zaccaria and Körting accepted it.^[7][8] Meyer-Lübke judged it unnecessary, and the modern dictionaries derive every sense from the verb.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record DELI gives is a 14th-century translation of Seneca, where sveglia is a musical instrument.^[2][4] Old texts list it beside the pipe and the trumpet as an instrument played with the breath;^[9] Tommaseo says it had long gone out of use.^[9] Nocentini and Zingarelli date the noun to the end of the 13th century.^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

In Giovanni Villani sveglia is also the player of the instrument, one of the trumpeters and criers of the Commune of Florence.^[9] DEI records the word in 1599 as the name of a torture, the wooden horse, and Zingarelli an old phrase stare sulla sveglia “to be in distress”.^[11][10]

The modern senses come from waking: the signal by trumpet, bell or drum that wakes a community, especially soldiers, is recorded before 1742 by G. B. Fagiuoli, and the clock with a bell that rings at a set hour from 1873 in Tommaseo–Bellini, after orologio a sveglia.^[2][9] Garibaldi and Primo Levi write of the trumpet that sounds the reveille in barracks.^[12] As an interjection, sveglia! urges someone to get up, or figuratively to pay attention and get moving.^[4][12] Colloquially it has also meant a hard blow or a punch.^[4][13] The 20th century added sveglia telefonica, the wake-up call by telephone, and the clock radio, radiosveglia.^[12][14]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Nocentini's date for sveglia.^[3]
• 14th century – A translation of Seneca names a wind instrument sveglia.^[2]
• 1599 – Sveglia is recorded as a kind of torture.^[11]
• Before 1742 – G. B. Fagiuoli uses it for the signal that wakes a community.^[2]
• 1873 – Tommaseo–Bellini record sveglia for an alarm clock.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Waking up, the time of waking: Domani la sveglia è alle cinque e mezza.^{[4][15][16][1]}
2. A wake-up signal, especially in the army, the reveille: Il trombettiere suonò la sveglia all'alba.^{[4][15][10][1]}
3. An alarm clock: Ho dimenticato di puntare la sveglia.^{[4][15][16][1]}
4. (figurative) A spur to greater effort: dare la sveglia a qualcuno.^[4][15][14]
5. (colloquial) A hard blow, a punch.^[4][13]

Interjection

1. Wake up!, (figurative) come on, pay attention!: Sveglia, il treno parte tra dieci minuti!^{[4][15][10][1]}

Word family

• radiosveglia
• sveglietta

Related words

• svegliare
• svegliarsi
• sveglio
• risvegliare
• vegliare
• veglia

Usage notes

Portare la sveglia al collo is a joking phrase for a naive person.^[15][13] The adjective sveglia “awake; quick-witted” is the feminine of sveglio.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3685
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
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ 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
16. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse