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vacca

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word vacca

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 900 Monza Glossary (9th–10th century) More words from the 9th century
Inherited from
Latin vacca
Ultimate origin
Latin vacca
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vacca
French vache
Italian vacca
Spanish vaca
From the same root
English vaccine ← vacca
Latin vaccīnus ← vacca

Pronunciation

Forms

vacca f (plural vacche)[1] The Monza Glossary writes Old Italian vaca.[2] An old form bacca is also recorded.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vacca (“cow”), an old popular word.[2][4][5][1] The Latin word is continued in all branches of Romance except Vegliote, from which DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance noun: French vache, Occitan vaca, Catalan vaca, Spanish vaca, Portuguese vaca, Sardinian bacca and Romanian vacă.[6][4][7]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.[8][1] The only comparison that DELI and Nocentini accept is Sanskrit वशा (vaśā), a cow that calves for the first time; since Indo-European had no separate words for the male and female of domestic animals, DELI suggests that the word belonged to the language of sacrifice, and Devoto to the terms of the priestly caste.[2][4][9] De Vaan finds the link hard to reconcile with Latin sound laws and mentions Muller's alternative, a preform with a long vowel meaning “the bellowing one”, related to Latin vāgiō (“to wail”).[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is vaca in the Monza Glossary of the 9th or 10th century; the spelling vacca appears before 1294 in Guittone d'Arezzo and before 1300 in Rustico di Filippo, for the adult female of cattle.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word took insulting senses in the 16th century: a loose woman (before 1571, Cellini) and a prostitute (1536, Aretino).[2] Redi (1668) records vacche for silkworms that swell and fail to spin their cocoon because of jaundice; from this sericulture term came andare in vacca “to become sluggish” (1931).[2] The sense “beef from a cow” is recorded in 1879.[2]

The seven fat and seven lean cows of Pharaoh's dream gave the phrases tempo di vacche grasse and di vacche magre, for times of plenty and of want.[10][5] The adjective vaccino “of cows” became the name of the smallpox vaccine through French vaccine and vaccin, first recorded in Italian in 1803.[2][4]

Timeline

  • c. 900 – Vaca is recorded in the Monza Glossary.[2][5]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo writes vacca.[2]
  • 1330 – The diminutive vacchetta is first recorded.[4]
  • 1536 – Aretino uses vacca for a prostitute.[2]
  • 1668 – Redi records vacche for diseased silkworms.[2]
  • 1803 – Vaccino “vaccine” is recorded.[2]
  • 1879 – The sense “beef from a cow” is recorded.[2]
  • 1931 – Andare in vacca is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. cow, the adult female of cattle: una stalla con trenta vacche da latte.[5][1][10]
  2. The meat of a slaughtered cow, beef: un chilo di vacca per il brodo.[5]
  3. (vulgar, derogatory) A slut, a woman who sells herself or gives herself easily.[5][1]
  4. (vulgar, derogatory) A fat, shapeless and slovenly woman.[5]
  5. Used with other words in curses and insults: vacca miseria, porca vacca.[5]
  6. (chiefly plural) A silkworm sick with jaundice that swells and does not spin.[5][2]
  7. (ichthyology) Another name for the comber, a fish of the genus Serranus.[5][7]

Word family

  • vaccaio
  • vaccaro
  • vacchetta
  • vaccheria
  • vaccata
  • vaccina
  • vaccino
  • vaccinare
  • vaccinazione
  • invacchire
  • vaccherella
  • stravaccarsi

Usage notes

Set phrases include mercato delle vacche, lingua di vacca, vacca marina and pesce vacca.[5] Vacca marina is the manatee, and Meyer-Lübke glosses pesce vacca as the stingray.[11][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1033
  4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  11. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Vacca.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/vacca. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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