Etymologically
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valigia

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Pronunciation

  • /vaˈli.d͡ʒa/[1]

Forms

valigia f (plural valigie or valige)[1] Older forms are valige (14th century, Antonio Pucci), now southern and regional, and valice (16th century, Tansillo), still used in Rome.[2][3][4] Dialect forms include Venetian valìs, Lombard valìs, Ligurian valize, Neapolitan balìcia and Tuscan ballìgia.[2][1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain, as DELI, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli say.[4][5][6] The word is found as Medieval Latin valisia and valixia.[1][7] Wiktionary and Nocentini see Italian “valigia” as a borrowing from the northern dialects (Milanese “valìs”), whose voiced /z/ was replaced in Tuscany by ⟨gi⟩.[8][1] For the source of the Medieval Latin word there are several proposals:[4][9]

  • Alessio (in DEI) derives it from Latin bilīx (“woven with a double thread”), a compound of bi- (“two”) and līcium (“thread”): the first “valigia” would have been a coarse cloth rolled up and tied with a strap around the clothes.[4][8] Nocentini thinks this the most plausible explanation.[4][8]
  • Devoto proposed Arabic وَلِيهَة (walīha, “large sack of grain”), the explanation that Zingarelli, Gabrielli and Sabatini–Coletti give with a question mark.[4][10][11][12]
  • Wiktionary also gives Gaulish *valisia (“leather bag”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *welH-.[1]
  • V. Pisani suggested an abstract noun from Latin bāiulus (“porter”), though the change of b- to v- is a difficulty.[4]

Prati called it a word of unknown origin.[3][4]

The word is related to French valise and Spanish valija, but it is not clear which language took it from which.[1] Nocentini says the Italian word passed into French and into Middle High German velīs, the source of German Felleisen;[8][13] Tommaseo knew the derivation from the German word.[8][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Boccaccio's Decameron (1348–1353), where a traveller has the saddle and the valigia put on his palfrey: the sense was a bag of stout cloth strapped behind the saddle, holding a rider's clothes.[4][5][13][9] Antonio Pucci used valige for a purse, and Arrighetto for a belly, in the 14th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century a crowd of derivatives appeared: valigetta (Cellini), valigione (Mauro), valigiotto (Guicciardini), and svaligiare, to rob a traveller of his bags.[2][3][8] The valigiaio who made and sold bags is recorded before 1625, and Florio has valigiaro in 1598.[4] Tommaseo described the 19th-century valigia as a leather case, smaller than a trunk, which soldiers carried on their backs.[13]

The valigia postale was the mail bag of the stagecoach era, and the valigia delle Indie was the postal and passenger service between Britain and the East Indies, after English Indian mail and French malle des Indes.[4][6][10] In international law the valigia diplomatica is the sealed diplomatic bag.[6][7] Fare le valigie, to pack, also means to leave a place.[6][10] Italian lent the word to Albanian valixhe and Ladino validja.[1]

Timeline

  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses valigia in the Decameron.[4][5]
  • 14th century – Antonio Pucci uses the form valige.[2]
  • 16th century – Valigetta (Cellini) and svaligiare are recorded.[2][8]
  • 1598 – Florio records valigiaro.[4]
  • 1879 – Valigeria, a factory or shop selling bags, appears in Tommaseo's dictionary.[4][8]
  • 1942 – The form valige is recorded as a southern regionalism.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. suitcase: a case, usually box-shaped, of leather, cloth, plastic or other material, with a handle, for carrying clothes and belongings when travelling: Ho lasciato la valigia in albergo.[5][6][12]
  2. (by extension) A rigid carrying case for a bulky object: la valigia del violino.[5][6]
  3. (history) valigia postale: the mail bag of the stagecoach era, valigia delle Indie: the mail and passenger service between Britain and the East Indies.[6][10][7]
  4. (law) valigia diplomatica: the diplomatic bag, exempt from customs and police checks.[6][7][11]

Word family

  • valigeria
  • valigiaio
  • valigetta
  • svaligiare
  • baule
  • French valise
  • Spanish valija

Usage notes

The plural is valigie or, less often, valige.[6][10] Fare le valigie means “to pack” and, figuratively, “to clear out, leave”.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3980
  3. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1035
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET