vettovaglia

Forms

vettovaglia f (plural vettovaglie)^[1]

Etymology

It is a semi-learned word: it is borrowed from Late Latin victuālia (“provisions, foodstuffs”), the neuter plural of the late adjective victuālis (“of food”) used as a noun, recorded in the Vulgate in the 5th century.^[2][3][4] The adjective is formed on Latin vīctus (“nourishment, diet”), the source of vitto.^[3][5][6] Prati says the word came into Italian by the literary route.^[7] Wiktionary instead treats it as inherited.^[1]

The same Latin plural gave Old French vitaille, Occitan vitalha, Catalan vitualles (a plural) and Portuguese bitalha.^[3][8] In the south it lives on in Neapolitan vettaglia,.^[8]

The ⟨v⟩ between the vowels of ⟨-ua-⟩ is the usual Tuscan insertion, as in vedova and Genova beside Latin vidua and Genua.^[9][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first records are the 14th-century Italian version of Guido delle Colonne's Troy history and Franco Sacchetti, with the sense “all the supplies that keep a body of people, especially an army, alive”;^[2][10] Zingarelli dates it to the 13th century.^[2][10] Tommaseo quotes the Guido translation: “if the provisions did not fail for their sustenance”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Old forms were many: vettuaglia (Busone da Gubbio, Sigoli), vettuvaglia (a 14th-century chronicle), vittuaglia (Giovanni Villani) and vittovaglia (Giovanni Morelli).^[12][7] A Lucca chronicle says the people “put the vettuallia” into a besieged fortress, and Boccaccio writes of soldiers who, lacking vettovaglia, ate every filth down to mice.^[13]

The word was at first used in the singular for an army's food on the march, and later mostly in the plural, from Machiavelli on.^[7] In past centuries the officials in charge of the food supply were called judges, masters or consuls delle vettovaglie.^[14] Guicciardini (before 1542) has the verb vettovagliare, “to supply with provisions”, and vettovagliamento is recorded from 1799 (Nocentini) or 1879 (DELI).^[2][3] Today the plural can also be used jokingly for food in general.^[10][15]

Timeline

• 14th century – The Italian Guido delle Colonne and Franco Sacchetti use vettovaglia.^[2]
• Before 1542 – Francesco Guicciardini uses vettovagliare.^[2]
• 1799 – Vettovagliamento is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually in the plural) provisions, victuals: the food needed to keep a community, especially an army, supplied: Dopo due mesi di assedio le vettovaglie cominciarono a scarseggiare.^[4][5][6][1]
2. (plural, humorous) Food supplies, cibarie.^[10][15]

Word family

• vettovagliamento
• vettovagliare

Related words

• vitto
• Latin victus

Usage notes

Vettovaglia is used mostly in the plural, vettovaglie; the old spelling vittuaglia is now archaic.^[5][14][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1052
8. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 470
10. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4043
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli