tenaglia

Forms

tenaglia f (plural tenaglie)^[1] Beside tenaglia there is the form tanaglia, with the vowels assimilated, which Prati calls the common form in Tuscany.^[2][3] Devoto–Oli marks it as uncommon and Sabatini–Coletti as old.^[4][2]

Etymology

According to DELI it is inherited from Late Latin tenācula, the neuter plural of a noun meaning “bond, tie” used by Terentianus Maurus in the 3rd century, from teneō (“to hold”).^[5] The neuter plural was taken as a feminine singular naming the tool.^[6] GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Gabrielli give the same Latin source.^[7][4][8] The OLD records the singular as an instrument for gripping, formed with the suffix -culum.^[9][1]

The sound of the word is not the regular Tuscan one.^[10][2] Nocentini calls it a northern outcome, and Sabatini–Coletti explains the change of the Latin cluster /kl/ to the palatal /ʎ/ as typical of the Gallo-Romance dialects.^[6][2] Devoto compares maglia beside macchia, both from Latin macula, and notes that the regular Tuscan form would have been ⟨*tenacchia⟩.^[10] Meyer-Lübke, Treccani and Wiktionary take the word as a loan from Occitan tenalha.^[11][12][1] In Bologna the word appears in documents as Medieval Latin tenallia in 1200 and tenagla in 1252, long before the first Italian record.^[5]

The same Latin word gave French tenailles and Catalan tenalles, both plurals, beside the Occitan form.^[6][11] Meyer-Lübke also lists Portuguese tenalha and Friulian forms such as tanalis.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plural tenaglie is first recorded in Dante, between 1300 and 1313, for the iron tool of two levers pivoted where they cross, used to grip, pull, break or draw out nails.^[5] An Old Friulian tenaya is recorded in 1327.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The singular tenaglia is recorded from 1561, in Citolini.^[5] In the 16th century the word also named the surgeon's tool for drawing teeth: Biringuccio, before 1537, speaks of an iron instrument “commonly called tenaglia or cane” (chiamato vulgarmente tenaglia o cane).^[5][13] From 1617 it named a work of fortification that opens like a pair of pincers towards the field, to bring the attackers under crossfire.^[5][7]

Pincers were also an instrument of torture, used to wring confessions, which DELI sees behind the softened phrase levare con le tenaglie.^[5] Treccani records the old punishment as supplizio della tenaglia, the same as attanagliamento.^[12] The figurative phrase cavare le parole di bocca con le tenaglie means getting a reluctant person to speak.^[7][14] In popular use the plural names the claws of crabs and scorpions, recorded from 1961.^[5][7] The military manovra a tenaglia is the pincer movement that closes on both flanks of the enemy at once.^[4][14]

Timeline

• 1200 – Medieval Latin tenallia is recorded at Bologna.^[5]
• 1252 – Medieval Latin tenagla is recorded at Bologna.^[5]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses the plural tenaglie.^[5]
• 1327 – Old Friulian tenaya is recorded.^[13]
• First half of the 14th century – The derived verb attanagliare is first recorded.^[6]
• Before 1537 – Biringuccio uses the word for the tool that draws teeth.^[5]
• 1561 – Citolini uses the singular tenaglia.^[5]
• 1617 – A. Berardo uses it for a work of fortification.^[5]
• 1961 – The plural is recorded for the claws of crustaceans and scorpions.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually in the plural) pincers: a tool of two crossed levers turning on a pivot, used to pull out nails, cut wire or grip pieces of metal: Mi passi le tenaglie per togliere questo chiodo?^[7][4][2]
2. (figurative) In phrases stressing the effort needed to make someone speak or give something: cavare le parole di bocca con le tenaglie.^[7][4][14]
3. (medicine) forceps for drawing teeth.^[7][4][14]
4. (popular, in the plural) The claws of crustaceans and scorpions.^[7][4][2]
5. (technology) The gripping part of lifting and conveying machines: draga a tenaglia.^[7][14]
6. (military, historical) A work in old fortifications, shaped like open pincers, that let the defenders converge their fire on the attackers.^[7][2][12]
7. (nautical) A fitting fixed to the ship's structure and used to make fast the rigging.^[7]
8. (animal husbandry) A tool for tattooing or tagging the ears of livestock.^[7][14]

Word family

• attanagliare
• tanagliare
• tenaglietta
• tenaglina

Related words

• tenere
• tenace
• tenacolo
• Latin tenaculum
• French tenailles

Usage notes

A tenaglia describes anything shaped or working like pincers; in military language manovra a tenaglia is a pincer movement.^[14][12] DELI notes that in 1855 Ugolini reported purists liking the plural tenaglie less than the singular.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 985
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b c d 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3748
14. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli