tallone

tallone¹ heel

Pronunciation

• /talˈlo.ne/^[1]

Forms

tallone m (plural talloni)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian talone and Old Italian talonne.^[2]

Etymology

The word for the heel is inherited from Late Latin tālō, a Late Latin form recorded in the glosses from the 10th century, with the accusative talōnem, derived from Latin tālus (“ankle bone, knucklebone”).^[3][4][5] Treccani and Wiktionary treat it as a spoken Latin *tālō.^[6][1] DELI thinks the word may have come into Italian from France, where it is recorded from the 13th century as it is in Italy; the more recent derivatives are in any case modelled on French.^[3] Zingarelli also traces it through French talon, and Treccani takes some of its senses from French.^[7][6]

The same Late Latin word gave talon, Occitan taló, Catalan taló, Spanish talón and Portuguese talão, and Friulian talon in Friulian.^[4][8][9] In classical Latin tālus was the knucklebone or ankle bone and, by metonymy, the ankle and the heel; talare comes from it as well.^[4]

The origin of Latin tālus is uncertain.^[3][10] De Vaan reconstructs a Proto-Italic *takslo-, which the diminutive taxillus (“small die”) would support if it is old.^[10] Nocentini compares Old Irish sál (“heel”) and Welsh sawdl (“heel”), from a Celtic *stātlā-, and so derives the word from the root of stō (“to stand”); de Vaan finds this connection difficult, since it needs a variant of the root without ⟨s-⟩ and an unexplained suffix ⟨-k-⟩.^[4][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the 13th-century Gerardo Patecchio, who has the form talone;^[3] tallone itself is in Giovanni Villani, who died in 1348.^[3] The sense is the anatomical one, the back of the foot: Villani describes stockings without feet “tied up to the heels with straps” (infino a' talloni legate con coregge).^[3][11]

Semantic evolution

The heel of the foot is the oldest sense, and Petrarch writes of Laura “stung in the heel by a little snake” (Punta poi nel tallon d'un picciol angue).^[11][2] Old Italian also used the word for the ankle, a sense Treccani marks as obsolete.^[6][5]

From the heel of the foot the word passed to the heel of a stocking or shoe, to the back of a horse's hoof and the ends of a horseshoe, and to the projecting rear or lower part of many objects: the part of a knife blade next to the handle, the part of a sword blade next to the guard, the butt of a rifle, the end of a ski or a billiard cue, the frog of a violin bow.^[3][5][7][6] DEI records an architectural sense, the reverse ogee moulding, from Chambers's dictionary of 1749, and a nautical one from 1805.^[12][3] In the 20th century it became the bead of a tyre, and in card games the stock of cards left after the deal.^[3][13][7]

The tallone d'Achille, the one weak point of a person or an argument, refers to the legend told by Hyginus and Statius: Achilles' mother held him by the heel when she dipped him in the Styx to make him invulnerable.^[3][6] DELI sees the figurative use as a learned metaphor from France, where D'Alembert, who died in 1783, wrote talon d'Achille;^[3] Italian has it from 1908.^[3] The verb tallonare, “to follow at someone's heels”, is modelled on French talonner and dates from 1935.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 13th century – Gerardo Patecchio uses the form talone.^[3]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses tallone for the heel.^[3]
• 1749 – Chambers's dictionary records an architectural sense, a moulding.^[12]
• 1805 – A nautical sense is recorded.^[3]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records the sense “projecting part that serves as a support” in various objects.^[3]
• 1908 – Panzini records tallone d'Achille “weak point”.^[3]
• 1935 – The bead of a tyre is called tallone;^[3] tallonare “to follow closely” is recorded.^[3]
• 1960 – The reinforced heel of a stocking is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) The heel, the back and lower part of the foot; in everyday use the same as calcagno.^[5][14][13]
2. (obsolete) The ankle.^[6][5]
3. The heel of a stocking or shoe, often reinforced.^[5][14][13]
4. (zoology) In a horse, the back part of the wall of the hoof; also either thickened end of a horseshoe.^[5][14][6]
5. The rear or lower part of various objects, usually projecting and serving as a support: the part of a knife blade next to the handle, the part of a sword blade next to the guard, the rounded end of a rifle butt, the end of a ski or a cue.^[5][13][6]
6. (music) The frog of a string player's bow, where the hair is fastened.^[7][15]
7. The bead of a tyre, the thickened edge that sits on the wheel rim.^[3][13][7]
8. (card games) The stock, the cards left after the deal, from which players draw.^[13][7][16]

Word family

• tallonare
• tallonata
• tallonamento
• talloniera

tallone² coupon, counterfoil

Pronunciation

• /talˈlo.ne/^[1]

Forms

tallone m (plural talloni)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the coupon is borrowed from French talon, the French word for the heel in a widened sense, “end of an object”, which French used from 1835 for the stub of a book of tickets or receipts from which the detachable part is torn off.^[3][5] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli call it a recent calque of French on the existing Italian tallone¹, the French word having taken this sense as the end part of something.^[4][14] DEI and Prati derive it from French talon de souche, the stub of a counterfoil book.^[17][18] French talon goes back to the same Late Latin tālō as the heel.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Fanfani and Arlìa's dictionary of 1877, which advised readers to sweep the word away and say cedola instead.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The purists' advice did not stop the word: GRADIT dates its own entry for the sense to 1895, and the diminutive talloncino, a small slip detached from a form or card as a receipt, is in Panzini's dictionary of 1908.^[5][17][18] Today tallone in this sense is uncommon, and talloncino is the usual word.^[13][15][4]

Timeline

• 1835 – French talon is used for the stub of a counterfoil book.^[3]
• 1877 – Fanfani and Arlìa record Italian tallone “coupon” and reject it.^[3]
• 1895 – GRADIT's date for the sense.^[5]
• 1908 – Panzini records talloncino.^[17][18]

Meanings

Noun

1. (uncommon) A coupon or counterfoil; the same as cedola or tagliando.^[13][7][15]

Word family

• talloncino