teschio

Forms

teschio m (plural teschi, diminutive teschiétto)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *testulum (“small pot, shard”), a diminutive of Latin testum (“earthenware lid or pot”).^{[2][3][1][4][5]} The Latin word is from testa (“piece of baked clay”).^[1] Nocentini makes the diminutive one of the Latin word for “piece of baked clay” in its late sense “skull”, itself a metaphor from “pot”, and Sabatini–Coletti one of classical testula;^[6][7][8][9] Prati rejects ⟨testula⟩ as the source, and Devoto thinks of a cross with ⟨testa⟩ “shell”.^[6][7][8][9] Körting too set the word under ⟨testula⟩.^[10] Tommaseo explained the ⟨chi⟩ of ⟨teschio⟩ as the ⟨t⟩ of ⟨testa⟩ changed to ⟨c⟩, as in mastio beside maschio.^[11] Meyer-Lübke records no outcome of the word outside Italian.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Dante's Commedia (1300–1313), with the sense “skull”: a sinner riprese 'l teschio misero co' denti, took up the wretched skull again in his teeth.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian teschio also meant a head cut off the body, as in Boccaccio's teschio d'asino set on a pole and in Petrarch.^[8][12][11] In the 16th and 17th centuries Guarini defined the word as a head separated from the trunk, and Tassoni as the crown of the head, said by poets of the whole head of a dead body.^[5] Modern Italian uses it above all for the skull of a corpse or a carcass, and the teschio over two crossed bones is the sign of death and of mortal danger on poisons and high-voltage pylons.^[3][13][14] The diminutive teschietto names a small carved skull, like the one on a rosary in Manzoni.^[15]

Timeline

• 1300–1313 – Dante uses teschio in the Commedia.^[2]
• 16th century – Caro has the augmentative teschione.^[12]
• 1838 – The diminutive teschiello is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. skull, the bones of the head, especially of a dead body or carcass: nella cripta erano allineati decine di teschi.^[3][13][14]
2. The death's-head, a skull over two crossed bones as a symbol of death and a danger sign.^[3][13][1]
3. An object shaped like a skull: un teschio d'argento.^[3][13]

Word family

• teschietto

Related words

• testa
• testo
• Latin testum

Usage notes

The stressed vowel is given both open and closed, tèschio and téschio.^[6][16][1] Old dialect texts have the form testio.^[5] Cranio is the anatomical word.^[3][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 989
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3770
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli