vespa

Forms

vespa f (plural vespe)^[1] Old forms include vespe, vespi and brespe.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vespa (“wasp”).^[4][5][6][1] The same word is French guêpe, Occitan vespa, Catalan vespa, Spanish avispa, Portuguese bespa, Sardinian espe and Romanian viespe.^[5][7] DELI, after Ettmayer, notes that the Romance forms can only be explained from spoken variants such as Vulgar Latin *vespe and *vespera; the DÉRom likewise reconstructs three types, the original one, one that changed its declension, and one with ⟨-er-⟩.^[4][8]

The Latin noun comes by metathesis of ⟨-ps-⟩ from Proto-Indo-European *wopsā, the form behind Lithuanian vapsvà, Old High German wefsa and Old English wæfs; German Wespe and English wasp show the same metathesis as Latin.^[5][9][1] Nocentini connects it with *webʰ- (“to weave”), after the woven look of the nest; de Vaan finds the link doubtful, though the paper nest could be described as woven.^[5][9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Andrea da Grosseto (1268, Tuscan), for a stinging insect of the order Hymenoptera.^[2][10] DELI's first record is Dante, between 1300 and 1313: the cowardly souls in Inferno are “stung hard by gadflies and by wasps that were there” (stimolati molto / da mosconi e da vespe ch'eran ivi).^[4][11]

Semantic evolution

Petrarch already used the wasp figuratively, for the “amorous wasps” that sting him.^[12][3] Tommaseo records vespa for a quick, lively young woman.^[12][3] Vespaio “wasps' nest” is recorded in Ramusio (1554–1565), and Varchi, before 1565, explains stuzzicare il vespaio “to stir up the wasps' nest” as provoking someone who will hit back;^[4] vespaio was also a layer of stones under a floor that keeps out the damp (1551).^[4] The phrase vita di vespa “wasp waist” probably follows French taille de guêpe (1840).^[4]

In the Second World War vespa was used for German army motorcycle combinations armed against tanks, from German Wespe (1939 in DEI, 1943 in DELI).^[4][3] The name was then given to the motor scooter made by Piaggio, for its speed and light hum more than its shape according to DELI, also for its tapered shape according to Nocentini;^[4][5][3] DELI dates the name to 1942, Nocentini and DEI to 1946.^[4][5][3] It gave vespista “Vespa rider” (1948) and the slogan vespizzatevi (1950).^[4][5] English Vespa is recorded in 1950 and French about 1950.^[13][14]

Timeline

• 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses vespa.^[2]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses it in the Inferno.^[4]
• 1551 – Vespaio is recorded for a damp-proof layer under a floor.^[4]
• 1554–1565 – Vespaio “wasps' nest” appears in Ramusio.^[4]
• 1939 – A German army motorcycle combination is called vespa.^[3]
• 1946 – Piaggio's scooter is named Vespa.^[5][3]
• 1948 – Vespista is recorded.^[4][5]
• 1950 – English Vespa is first recorded.^[13][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wasp: a black and yellow insect whose female has a sting: Una vespa mi ha punto sul braccio.^[6][15][16]
2. (zoology) The common name of the insects of the family Vespidae, especially Vespula germanica; capitalised, the genus Vespa, to which the hornet (calabrone) belongs.^[6][15][16]
3. (figurative) A symbol of persistent annoyance or biting satire: fastidioso come una vespa.^[15][6]
4. A motor scooter made by Piaggio since the years after the Second World War, often written Vespa.^[6][16][17]
5. vita di vespa, vitino di vespa: a very slender waist.^[6][15][17]

Word family

• vespaio
• vespone
• vespetta
• vespina
• vespista
• vespino
• vespiere

Related words

• Latin vespa
• English wasp

Usage notes

The scooter's name is a registered trademark, and is written with a capital letter.^[16][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4037
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana