zanca

Forms

zanca f (plural zanche)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3][4] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli derive it: it is inherited from Late Latin zanca (“high-heeled shoe; close-fitting boot”), a shoe in the Parthian fashion, which they trace to Middle Persian zang (“ankle”).^[5][6] Wiktionary also derives the Latin word from Parthian, and compares a possible root Proto-Indo-European *(s)keng- (“to limp”), like English shank.^[1] The Late Latin word is recorded in the Historia Augusta for Parthian shoes, and Byzantine Greek had τζάγγη (tzángē), a rich shoe worn by the emperors.^[7][8][1][9] GRADIT, Gabrielli and the TLIO give this explanation only as possible.^[2][10][4]

The other view is Germanic: DELI (under the variant cianca), Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani connect it with Lombardic zanka (“tongs”).^[11][12][13] Zaccaria hesitated between Old High German zanka (“tongs; prong”), which fits the form, and a word for “shin” behind Old English sceonca and its English descendant, which fits the sense.^[14] Körting thought both doubtful.^[7]

The same word is Old Occitan sanca (a buskin), Spanish zanca (“leg”) with zanco (“stilt”), and Portuguese sanco (“bird's shank”).^[15][5] Meyer-Lübke explained zampa as a blend of this word with gamba.^[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Dante's Inferno (1300–1313): in canto 19 a sinner shows his torment by kicking with his zanca, and in canto 34 Virgil turns his head “where he had his legs” (volse la testa ov' elli avea le zanche).^[16][4][8] The sense is “leg”, properly its lower part.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used it for the hip and for an animal's paw or a crab's claw.^[4] Tommaseo noted that by his time only the variant cianca was alive, in jocular use.^[8] DELI records cianca from 1825.^[16] The plural zanche came to mean “stilts”, as in Venetian.^[14] DEI traces the sense from Vasari's “stilt” to Galileo's “bent rod”.^[17]

In Venice a zanca was a great oar used in storms, later a kind of leeboard of small boats, and German took it from Venetian as Zancke in 1479.^[17][18] In building, the word now names a metal cramp bent at one end that fixes a sill, jamb or cornice to the wall.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1300–1313 – Dante uses zanca and zanche for the legs in the Inferno.^[16]
• 1479 – German zancky, a large oar used in storms, is borrowed from Venetian.^[18]
• 16th century – Zanca is recorded for a large storm oar.^[17]
• 1825 – The variant cianca is recorded.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic, regional) leg, usually with a pejorative tone; the same as cianca.^{[2][6][12][1]}
2. (archaic, in the plural) stilts.^[2][6][1]
3. (technical) The bent or folded end of a lever or rod.^[2][6][12]
4. (building) A metal cramp or bracket, bent at one end, set in a wall to hold a sill, jamb, cornice or similar element: grappa.^{[2][6][3][13]}
5. (nautical, historical) The side leeboard of small Venetian boats of the past.^[2][12]

Word family

• azzancato
• zancato
• zanchetta

Related words

• cianca
• zampa
• Spanish zanca

Usage notes

The initial z is given as voiced /dz/ by Wiktionary and Sabatini–Coletti, as voiceless /ts/ by Treccani;^{[1][11][12][3]} Zingarelli allows both.^{[1][11][12][3]}

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 g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e 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 Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 477
10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
15. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
16. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4106
18. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it