coso Italian · revision 37507

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1535, Francesco Berni|origins=la causa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkɔ.zo/, /ˈkɔ.so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coso''' ''m'' (plural cosi, diminutive cosino or cosetto)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a masculine noun made from [[cosa|t=thing]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Meyer-Lübke sets it beside [[fr|chose]] used as a masculine, ⟨le chose⟩, for a name that one has forgotten, and beside the Italian verb [[cosare]], which stands for a verb that one cannot find;^(REW 1935)^(DEI|1132) DEI makes the same comparison with French.^(REW 1935)^(DEI|1132) The feminine noun goes back to [[la|causa|t=cause, matter]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ DELI and GRADIT date the word to before 1535, in Francesco Berni;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1132)^(Nocentini 2010) DEI gives 1607, in a text from Pistoia, and Nocentini the 16th century.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1132)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Berni, before 1535, for an object that one cannot or will not name.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The GDLI quotes the exchange: “Ch’er’egli infine? – Er’un dificio, un coso” (“What was it in the end?” – “It was a contraption, a thingamajig”).^(GDLI|3, 888)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Later writers use it for objects that are strange, ugly or hard to identify: Francesco Redi writes of having received a letter “entrovi quel coso stampato in Rimini” (with that printed thing from Rimini inside).^(GDLI|3, 888)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Tommaseo notes that, applied to a person, the word is always contemptuous and more vulgar than familiar,^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) and DEI also records the figurative, scornful sense “man, person”.^(DEI|1132)

+

+ The use for a person whose name one does not remember, often written ''Coso'', is found in Moravia and Testori, and the GDLI added it in its 2009 supplement.^(GDLI)^(Wiktionary) Diminutives are ''cosino'' and ''cosetto'', and colloquially the word is also a euphemism for the penis.^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses ''coso'' for an unnamed object.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1607 – DEI's date, in a text from Pistoia.^(DEI|1132)

+ * 2009 – The GDLI supplement records ''coso'' for a person whose name is not remembered.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(colloquial)'' [[m|en|thingamajig]], an object whose name one doesn't know, can't recall or doesn't want to say: ''a che serve questo coso con le rotelle?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A person whose name one can't remember or won't say, often written ''Coso'': ''ho incontrato Coso, quello del terzo piano''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(colloquial, derogatory)'' An ugly, odd-looking or badly made thing or person: ''chi è quel coso antipatico al bancone?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(slang)'' The [[m|en|penis]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cosino]]

+ * [[cosetto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cosa]]

+ * [[cosare]]

+ * [[la|causa]]

+ * [[fr|chose]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}