uggia

Forms

uggia f (plural ugge)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3][4][5] DELI follows Castellani (1955), who derives it inherited from Vulgar Latin *ūdia (“moisture, coolness”), an abstract noun from Latin ūdus (“wet, damp”).^[2] Castellani held that “shade” was the first sense: shade passes easily into “annoyance” (compare dare ombra), but annoyance does not pass into material shade.^[2] GRADIT, Sabatini–Coletti, Treccani and the GDLI take the same view,^[4][6][7][8] and Devoto explains the ⟨gg⟩ by the same treatment of /dj/ as in moggio from modius, comparing Tuscan uzza “sharp air, breeze”.^[9][3] The Latin adjective is a contracted form of ūvidus.^[10][1]

The older view, Canello's (1878), takes it from odia (“hatreds”), the neuter plural of odium read as a feminine singular, and pairs the popular uggioso with learned odioso.^[2][3] Wiktionary gives this origin,^[1] and DEI also thinks it probably comes from the Latin noun, pointing to Cicero's phrases for “to hold in hatred” and “to become hateful”, with the vowel darkened in unstressed position or taken over from the adjective.^[11] Lurati has revived it with good arguments on meaning, but a stressed short /o/ does not normally give /u/.^[3]

Nocentini prefers a back-formation from Old Italian aduggiare (“to oppress, sadden; to harm with shade”), from Vulgar Latin *adodiāre formed with ad-, parallel to Late Latin inodiāre, the source of Occitan enojar and of annoiare and noia.^[3] Devoto–Oli also takes the noun as probably drawn from the verb.^[12] Against Castellani, Nocentini notes that the Latin adjective survives only in rare, peripheral Romanian ud (“wet”), with its Latin sense, and that “annoyance” is the central meaning, as the derivatives for “tiresome” and “a vague hunger” show; from “annoyance” both “harmful shade” and “sharp air” can follow.^[3]

Other proposals: Hall (1939) saw a blend of ūrere (“to burn”) and the stem of “hate”, and Prati derived it from the burning verb alone;^[2] Meyer-Lübke lists it under the same Latin verb after Salvioni, doubting that the “shade” sense is the same word,^[13] and Körting thought of obviam (“in the way”).^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Florentine translation of the Tesoro, from the end of the 13th century, where it means the relative darkness of something that stops the light, and so “shelter, screen”.^[15] DELI's first record, the Italian translation of Crescenzi of about 1350, has the shade of trees that harms the plants below them, a sense already guessed in Medieval Latin texts.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the shade of trees was seen as harmful to crops: a commentary on Dante says that, as shade harms a sown field, the King of France harms Christendom.^[8][16] A translation of Seneca speaks of avoiding the summer heat “per ombra e per uggia”.^[16] The figurative sense “annoyance, bother” is in Matteo Villani, before 1363, and Franco Sacchetti uses it for weariness and restlessness.^[2][11] The phrases avere in uggia “to dislike” and venire in uggia “to become tiresome” followed.^[11][4]

In modern usage the material sense is uncommon and the figurative one, a gloomy boredom, prevails;^[2][4][6] Fanfani records it as “tedium” in 1863.^[2][4][6] uggioso meant “shady and damp” in Giordano da Pisa (before 1311) and “tiresome” in Giusti (before 1850); Manzoni has it for “sullen”.^[2] Collodi's uggiolina (1881–83) is the vague hunger Pinocchio feels in his stomach.^[2][7]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – the Florentine translation of the Tesoro uses uggia “shade”.^[15]
• Before 1311 – Giordano da Pisa uses uggioso “shady and damp”.^[2]
• About 1350 – the translation of Crescenzi has the shade of trees that harms plants.^[2]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses uggia for “bother, annoyance”.^[2]
• 1863 – Fanfani records the sense “tedium”.^[2]
• 1879 – uggiosità is recorded in Tommaseo–Bellini.^[2]
• 1881–1883 – Collodi uses uggiolina.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (uncommon) The shade of trees that harms the plants growing under them; by extension, lack of light, shade.^[4][6][5]
2. (figurative) A feeling of boredom mixed with restlessness and low spirits; annoyance, bother: Questi pomeriggi di nebbia mi mettono l'uggia.^[4][12][5]
3. In avere or prendere in uggia, to take a dislike to someone or something;^[4][7][5] essere or venire in uggia a qualcuno, to become tiresome or hateful to them.^[4][7][5]

Word family

• aduggiare
• uggioso
• uggiosità
• uggiolina
• uggire
• uggerella

Related words

• uzza
• odio
• noia
• Latin udus
• Latin odium

Usage notes

DEI and the GDLI list a separate old uggia “luck, fortune” (buona uggia), from a 14th-century translation of Seneca, which the GDLI compares with uria; the TLIO treats “luck” as a figurative sense of this word.^[11][17][15] The TLIO also has a Sienese uggia “chest for money or goods” (1265), from Old French huge.^[15]

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 p q 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ 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)
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 503
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3943
12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
15. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
16. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 504