uggiolare

Forms

uggiolare (first-person singular present ùggiolo, first-person singular past historic uggiolài, past participle uggiolàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

Most dictionaries derive it from Latin: it is inherited from Latin ēiulō (“to utter cries of anguish, wail”), an expressive verb formed from the interjection of pain ei.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][1]} GRADIT, Zingarelli and the GDLI allow for the influence of ululō (“to howl”), and DELI and Devoto compare it.^{[4][6][8][2][9]} DELI adds that the Latin verb has descendants in Gallo-Romance and Ibero-Romance.^[2]

Prati disagreed: he took the verb as imitative, like rural ugnolare of the same sense, and denied that an Italian ⟨ugiulare⟩, listed by Meyer-Lübke under the Latin verb, exists.^[10] Tommaseo also called it imitative, while recalling the Latin word.^[11] The Latin verb was borrowed separately in learned form as Old Italian eiulare “to cry out in great pain”, recorded in Cavalca in 1342; the LEI lists it as a learned form under the Latin word.^[12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the first edition of the Vocabolario della Crusca, 1612, which defines the word under cane “dog”.^[2][4][8] The sense was a dog's insistent plaintive whining from hunger, pain or another cause.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Prati distinguishes the sound from guaire, and quotes the saying that a dog uggiola when it is tied up.^[10] Tommaseo in 1861 described it as the plaintive noise a chained dog makes when it wants to be let loose.^[11] Pascoli wrote of a dog that alla catena / uggiola (“whines on its chain”) among the ruins at night.^[8]

In 20th-century writers the verb was also used of people moaning in pain or complaint, and of weather rumbling long and dully.^[8] The noun uggiolio is recorded in 1863, when Fanfani called it common usage.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1342 – Cavalca uses learned eiulare.^[12]
• 1612 – The Vocabolario della Crusca records uggiolare.^[2][4]
• 1861 – Tommaseo describes it as the cry of a chained dog.^[11]
• 1863 – Uggiolio is recorded by Fanfani.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of a dog, especially a puppy, to whine or whimper plaintively from hunger, pain or discomfort; to yelp softly: Il cagnolino uggiolava davanti alla porta chiusa.^{[4][14][5][6][15][1]}
2. (intransitive, figurative) Of a person, to moan or whimper.^[8]
3. (intransitive, literary) Of wind or weather, to make a long dull rumble.^[8]

Word family

• uggiolio
• uggiolamento

Related words

• ululare
• guaire
• mugolare
• Latin ēiulō

Usage notes

The stress falls on the first syllable in the present: ùggiolo, ùggiola.^[14][5][6] The auxiliary is avere.^[14][5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 504
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 458
10. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1026
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 268
14. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)