piccolo Italian · revision 37656

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=late 12th century, rent records of the Badia di Coltibuono}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpik.ko.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''piccolo''' (feminine piccola, masculine plural piccoli, feminine plural piccole, comparative più piccolo or minore, superlative minimo, diminutive piccolìno or piccolétto (“short person”), double diminutive (uncommon) piccolettìno, augmentative piccolóne, diminutive-augmentative piccolòtto (“short and stock person”))^(Wiktionary)

+ The variant [[picciolo]] was long accepted in writing, though Tuscan speech preferred ''piccolo''.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+ Older spellings include [[roa-oit|picolo]] and [[m|roa-oit|picullo]].^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is not certain.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Most sources take it as [[der|la-vul|*pikk-|t=small]], an expressive, sound-symbolic root for smallness that has no Latin record, with the diminutive suffix [[-olo]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(REW 1935)^(Prati 1951|774) Meyer-Lübke grouped under this root [[ro|pic|t=drop]] and dialect words for a small child or a boy in Sardinia, Friuli and Piedmont.^(REW 1935) Nocentini puts [[es|pequeño]] and [[pt|pequeno]] on the same root, but Meyer-Lübke thought a link possible only by assimilation of the vowel.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ DELI sends the reader to [[piccino]], whose relation to ⟨piccolo⟩ it calls unclear.^(DELI 1999) It cites Giovan Battista Francescato, who saw beside ⟨pikk-⟩ a second root ⟨pitš-⟩, both very productive in Romance.^(DELI 1999) In late antiquity there were [[la-lat|pisinnus]] and [[m|la-lat|pitinnus]] “small”, the source of [[fr|petit]].^(Nocentini 2010) Devoto took the word instead as a diminutive of [[picca|t=pike, point]], a small thing being “a little point”, and compared the negatives [[mica]] and [[punto]].^(Devoto 1968|330)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in the rent records of the Badia di Coltibuono, in Tuscany, at the end of the 12th century, with the sense “below the usual size”.^(DELI 1999) Bono Giamboni, before 1292, asks: “Che aguaglio può esser da la cosa finita a quella che non ha fine, da la cosa piccola alla grande…?” (what comparison can there be between the finite and the infinite, between the small thing and the great?).^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “short in time” is recorded in 1288, “young” in Dino Compagni in 1310–1312, and “petty, mean” in Dante in 1304–1308.^(DELI 1999) As a noun ''piccolo'' “child” is in Giordano da Pisa before 1311, and “the young of an animal” in 1833.^(DELI 1999) ''In piccolo'' “on a small scale” appears in 1666 and ''nel mio piccolo'' “in my small way” in 1865.^(DELI 1999) In the Middle Ages ''piccolo'' was also a coin, the reduced denier (Medieval Latin ''denarius parvus'') minted after the first silver ''grossi'' of the 13th century.^(GDLI|13, 364) ''Piccolo borghese'' is a 20th-century calque of French ''petit bourgeois''.^(DEI|2903)

+

+ The word passed into other languages chiefly through music.^(DIFIT) English has ''piccolo'' for a small upright piano from 1831 and for the small flute (''flauto piccolo'') from 1841, and German ''Pikkolo'' “piccolo flute” from 1801.^(DIFIT)^(Nocentini 2010) German and Austrian ''Piccolo'' also named a young waiter or bellboy from 1838, and French ''piccolo'' a light local wine from 1876.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Piccolo'' appears in the rent records of the Badia di Coltibuono.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1288 – It is used of a short time.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “petty, mean”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1311 – Giordano da Pisa uses it as a noun “child”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1801 – German ''Pikkolo'' “piccolo flute” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1841 – English ''piccolo'' “small flute” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|small]], [[m|en|little]], below the usual size: ''Abitano in una casa piccola ma luminosa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The smaller of two or of a series: ''Prendo la tazza piccola.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of a person, [[m|en|short]] or slight: ''È piccolo, ma fortissimo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # [[m|en|young]]: ''Quando ero piccolo vivevamo in campagna.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Short in time; small in number or amount: ''Facciamo una piccola pausa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Minor, of little importance or value: ''È solo un piccolo graffio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of modest social or economic standing; small-scale: ''i piccoli negozi del quartiere''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|petty]], narrow-minded: ''idee piccole e meschine''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Before a famous name, someone or something like it on a smaller scale: ''un piccolo Mozart''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small [[m|en|child]]; also the young of an animal: ''La gatta allatta i suoi piccoli.''^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''in piccolo'': on a small scale, ''nel mio piccolo'': in my modest way.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[piccolezza]]

+ * [[impiccolire]]

+ * [[rimpiccolire]]

+ * [[piccoletto]]

+ * [[piccolino]]

+ * [[piccolotto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piccino]]

+ * [[picciolo]]

+ * [[picca]]

+ * [[picco]]

+ * [[en|piccolo]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The comparative is ''più piccolo'' or ''minore'', the superlative ''piccolissimo'' or ''minimo''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) Set phrases include ''piccolo schermo'' “television”, ''piccola posta'' “letters to the editor” and ''fare le ore piccole'' “to stay up very late”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}