tonaca

Forms

tonaca f (plural tonache)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian tonica, Old Italian toneca and Old Italian tonega.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tunica (“tunic”), through the variant Late Latin tonica that Isidore of Seville already uses in the 6th–7th century.^[3][4][5] Isidore explained the name from tonus (“sound”), because the garment makes a noise as one walks.^[3] Nocentini compares the ending with that of monaca.^[6] The learned tunica is the doublet taken directly from Latin.^[1][7]

The same Latin word gave Sardinian tùniga, which in Logudorese names the upper millstone, and Spanish tonga, and it was borrowed as German Tünche.^[8][5][6]

The Latin noun is a trade word of Semitic origin, probably brought by the Phoenicians, from the same source as Ancient Greek χιτών (khitṓn, “tunic”); compare Biblical Hebrew כֻּתֹּנֶת (kuttōnet, “tunic”).^[6][3][9] DELI leaves open whether it came directly or through Etruscan.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the old form tonica in the Lenten sermons of Giordano da Pisa (1305–06).^[3][4] The form tonaca appears in Domenico Cavalca, who died in 1342, for the long habit with sleeves worn by friars and nuns, sometimes tied at the waist with a cord.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Latin tunica was a garment worn by both men and women; from the 9th century the Church used the word for a liturgical vestment closer to the toga than to the classical tunic.^[3] Medieval Latin tunica for a priest's vestment is recorded at Parma in 913.^[5] Old Italian also used tonica for the long garment of the ancients.^[10][11] Cavalca tells how the citizens of Norcia, in times of drought, raised the tonica of Eutychius and prayed for rain.^[2]

The word became the symbol of religious life, as in the phrase gettare la tonaca alle ortiche “to throw the habit into the nettles”, to leave the religious life.^[12][13][14] In founding it names the clay coating of a model from which the mould is made;^[14] Benvenuto Cellini already notes that the craft calls this coating tonaca.^[14] In anatomy it is a synonym of tunica, a membrane covering an organ.^[13][7] A Tuscan proverb in Tommaseo warns: Quando Natale viene in Domenica, vendi la tonica per comprar la melica “When Christmas falls on a Sunday, sell your tunic to buy sorghum”.^[11]

Timeline

• 6th–7th century – Isidore of Seville uses Latin tonica.^[3][5]
• 913 – Medieval Latin tunica for a priest's vestment is recorded at Parma.^[5]
• 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses tonica.^[3][4]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses tonaca for the habit of friars and nuns.^[3]
• 14th century – The diminutive tonacella is recorded.^[6]
• 17th century – Menzini uses the diminutive tonachino.^[5]
• 1838 – Tommaseo uses the augmentative tonacone.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long, loose habit with wide sleeves reaching to the feet, often girded with a cord, worn by friars and nuns: il frate si strinse la tonaca con il cordone.^[4][13][14]
2. By extension, the cassock of a priest.^[4][13][7]
3. (uncommon, figurative) A friar or a nun.^[4][13][15]
4. (metallurgy) In founding, the layer of clay or earth coating the models from which the mould is made.^[4][13][7]
5. (technology) The inner lining of tanks, ducts and the like.^[4][15]
6. (anatomy) A tunic: a layer of tissue covering an organ.^[13][7][14]

Word family

• tonacella
• tonacone
• tonachina
• intonacare

Related words

• tunica
• monaca

Usage notes

Common phrases: vestire or prendere la tonaca “to become a friar or nun”, gettare la tonaca alle ortiche “to leave the religious life”, and uomo di tonaca “a friar or priest”.^[4][12][14] The form tonica is archaic or regional.^[13][16] A separate obsolete tonaca, the feminine of tonaco, meant the plaster of a wall.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3816
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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 997
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana