Etymologically
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tasca

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Pronunciation

Forms

tasca f (plural tasche)[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.[2][3] DELI gives the most widespread view, that it is borrowed from Frankish *taskā (“bag”), beside Old High German tasca (modern German Tasche), and Devoto–Oli and Treccani say the same;[2][4][5][1] Wiktionary traces the Frankish word to Proto-Germanic *taskǭ, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *das- (“to fray”).[2][4][5][1] Gabrielli takes it directly from the Old High German word.[6]

Nocentini reverses the direction: Frankish took the word from Vulgar Latin *tasca, a metathesis of Latin taxa (“tax”), which in the Middle Ages meant a day's rural service, as in Occitan tasca “tithe”, Catalan tasca “feudal service” and French tâche “task”; in Germanic it became the purse holding the day's pay, and returned to Romance with that sense.[3] Körting, following Kluge and Mackel, had suggested a similar link with Vulgar Latin *taxicō, a frequentative of taxō (“to assess, rate”), a path that DELI and the GDLI also mention.[7][8][2][9] Grimm connected the Germanic word with Medieval Latin taxaca (“theft”) in the Salic Law.[8] DEI and Prati call the origin unknown, noting that the Old High German word is recorded from the 9th century, and Devoto saw in it an old European Alpine word.[10][11][12]

The word is also Old Occitan tasca and dialectal French tasque; through Hungarian it reached Romanian.[10][7][8] A derivative is Ligurian taschera “shoulder bag”.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin tasca is recorded in the 13th century, at Bologna in 1218 and at Parma in 1255.[10][9] The first Italian use is Dante's (1300–1313), with the only old sense, “bag, purse”: in the Inferno the usurers each have a purse hanging from the neck, dal collo a ciascun pendea una tasca.[2][13][9] Iacopone da Todi also mentions a tasca among a beggar's provisions.[9]

Semantic evolution

Old and Renaissance Italian used tasca for a bag or satchel, usually carried over the shoulder: Domenico Cavalca's hermit carried his little books in a leather tasca, and in Pisa and Lucca the tasca was the bag from which the names of public officers were drawn by lot.[9][10] The sense “pocket”, a small bag sewn into a garment, is recorded from 1640, in Oudin's dictionary; in 1726 Salvini defended tasca against those who preferred saccoccia.[2]

Derivatives followed the new sense: taschino (before 1748), tascata “a pocketful” (1738), tascabile “that fits in a pocket” (1763), later also “small” and, from 1970, a paperback.[2] The soldiers' tascapane, a bread bag, is recorded from 1918, preceded by saccapane (1891).[2] The 20th century added a compartment of a bag or wallet (1939–1940), the pastry bag (1965) and anatomical pouches.[2][13] Rompere le tasche, to annoy, is recorded in 1839.[10]

Timeline

  • 1218 – Medieval Latin tasca is recorded at Bologna.[10]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses tasca for a purse hung from the neck.[2]
  • 14th century – Intascare “to pocket” is first recorded.[3]
  • 1640 – Oudin's dictionary records the sense “pocket”.[2]
  • 1726 – Salvini defends tasca against saccoccia.[2]
  • 1763 – Algarotti uses tascabile.[2]
  • 1839 – Guadagnoli uses rompere le tasche.[10]
  • 1918 – Tascapane is recorded in Panzini's dictionary.[2]
  • 1965 – Tasca is recorded for a pastry bag.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. pocket: a small bag sewn inside or onto a garment to hold small objects: Ho trovato le chiavi nella tasca della giacca.[13][4][14]
  2. A compartment of a wallet, bag or suitcase: uno zaino con due tasche laterali.[13][15][14]
  3. (archaic) A bag or satchel.[13][15][14]
  4. (cooking) A piping bag, a funnel-shaped cloth bag for decorating cakes with cream.[13][15][14]
  5. (cooking) A piece of meat cut or folded to be stuffed; the stuffed dish.[13]
  6. (anatomy) A pouch-shaped organ or cavity.[13][15][14]

Word family

  • taschino
  • tascabile
  • tascapane
  • tascata
  • intascare
  • saccoccia
  • borsa
  • German Tasche

Usage notes

Many idioms use the word: conoscere come le proprie tasche “to know like the back of one's hand”, avere in tasca “to be sure of getting”, starsene con le mani in tasca “to sit idle”, pagare di tasca propria “to pay out of one's own pocket”, and colloquially averne le tasche piene “to be fed up” and rompere le tasche “to annoy”.[13][4][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  6. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  7. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  8. ^ a b c Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
  9. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3726
  11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 978
  12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  14. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse