Etymologically
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taglio

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈtaʎ.ʎo/[1]

Forms

taglio m (plural tagli)[1] Old forms include Old Italian tagio, Old Italian taio and Old Italian tallio.[2]

Etymology

It is a noun formed from the verb tagliare (“to cut”) without a suffix, a deverbal like ritaglio from ritagliare.[3][4][5][1][6] The Medieval Latin of Bologna already has the plural Medieval Latin taglis in 1295.[6] Diez had taken the noun straight from Latin tālea (“cutting, slip”), but Körting thought it better explained as a noun from the verb, as the dictionaries now do.[7]

The verb is inherited from Late Latin tāliāre (“to cut off, prune”), a word of the Roman land surveyors from the 6th century, formed on Latin tālea or its variant tālia, a cutting or stake for planting.[3][4][5][8] Its first meaning was “to cut a branch”.[3] The verb spread through all the Romance languages: French tailler, Occitan talhar, Catalan tallar, Spanish tajar, Portuguese talhar, Sardinian tazare and Romanian tăia.[4][9] The noun has its counterparts in Friulian tay and Catalan tall.[9] The origin of the Latin noun is unknown, and DELI calls it isolated among the Indo-European languages;[3][4] Alinei took it instead for the neuter plural of Latin tālis (“such”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest dated senses are the cutting edge of a blade, in Giordano da Pisa in 1305, and the cut of clothes, in Zucchero Bencivenni in 1310;[3][5][6] DEI dates the word to the 13th century, in the Novellino.[3][5][6] In Dante the word is the cut of a sword in battle: “al taglio de la spada” (“to the edge of the sword”, Inferno 28).[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century taglio also meant a piece cut from a whole (the Italian Palladio, c. 1340), slaughter and, in Franco Sacchetti, an opportunity.[3][6] Later senses are the technique of cutting (before 1446), a length of cloth cut from the bolt (Florence, 1491), and a wound from a sharp object (1673, Paolo Segneri).[3] The legal sense “annulment” is recorded at Venice from 1694, the figurative cut of part of a text or play from 1879, and the slant or style of a piece of writing from 1942.[3] In the wine trade taglio is the blending of two or more wines.[10]

Taglio cesareo, the caesarean section, is recorded from 1797;[6][3] DELI explains that the name has nothing to do with Julius Caesar's birth, as tradition held, but comes from Latin caesar, a child born by such a cut, from caedere “to cut”.[6][3] Taglio dolce, copper engraving, follows French taille-douce.[6]

Timeline

  • 13th century – DEI dates taglio to the Novellino.[6]
  • 1295 – Medieval Latin taglis is recorded at Bologna.[6]
  • 1305 – Giordano da Pisa uses taglio for the edge of a blade.[3][5]
  • 1310 – Zucchero Bencivenni uses it for the cut of clothes.[3]
  • 1491 – A Florentine record has taglio for a length of cloth.[3]
  • 1673 – Paolo Segneri uses it for a wound.[3]
  • 1797 – Taglio cesareo is recorded.[6]
  • 1879 – The Tommaseo–Bellini dictionary records the figurative sense “cut, suppression”.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. cutting, the act of cutting and its result: Il taglio del prato richiede un'ora.[5][11][12]
  2. A cut, an incision, or a wound made by something sharp: Si è fatto un taglio sul pollice aprendo la scatola.[5][11][12]
  3. Amputation, (surgery) an incision.[5][11][13]
  4. (figurative) A cut, a reduction or removal of part of something: Il governo annuncia tagli alla sanità.[11][12][1]
  5. The way something is cut: the cut of a garment, a haircut.[5][12][14]
  6. (figurative) The slant, tone or approach of a speech or a piece of writing.[5][3][1]
  7. The cutting edge of a blade.[14][1][3]
  8. A piece cut from a whole: a cut of meat, a length of cloth.[3][12][1]
  9. The denomination of a banknote.[1]
  10. (oenology) The blending of wines.[10][1]

Word family

  • taglietto
  • intagliare
  • attagliare
  • controtaglio

Usage notes

Darci un taglio (colloquial) means to put an end to a discussion or a situation, and a doppio taglio “double-edged” is said of an action that may also harm the one who takes it.[11][13][14] Pizza al taglio is pizza sold by the slice.[5][13] GDLI records a rare Tuscan adjective taglio “cut”, the past participle without its ending.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 682
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3699
  7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3698
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 686