testa Italian · revision 37693

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1295}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtɛs.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''testa''' ''f'' (plural teste, diminutive testìna or testolìna or (uncommon, usually of butchered animals) testicciòla or (literary, uncommon, usually of butchered animals) testicciuòla, augmentative testóna or (with specialized meanings) testóne m, pejorative testàccia, derogatory testùccia)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|testa|t=earthenware pot; tile; shell]], a word that in Late Latin came to mean the skull and then the head.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) In much of the Romance area the new word took the place of the popular outcomes of the older [[m|la|caput]], which Italian keeps as [[capo]].^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935) It is shared with [[fr|tête]] (older [[fro|teste]]), [[oc|testa]], [[ca|testa]], [[pt|testa]], [[sc|testa]] and [[ro|țeastă|t=skull]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The change of meaning is often explained as a joke, the skull being likened to a pot.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DELI thinks it more likely that the shift was at first innocent and technical, in the language of physicians, from “shell” to “brain case”, as with [[grc|κόγχος|tr=kónkhos|t=shell; skull]], Sardinian [[m|sc|conca]] and southern Italian [[coccia]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Another view, recalled by DEI, links it to the barbarians' custom of drinking from skulls, citing the parallel of [[de|Kopf|t=head]], borrowed from [[m|la|cuppa|t=cup]].^(DEI|3772)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The Latin word itself has no sure cognates.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968|443) De Vaan rejects a derivation from [[ine-pro|*teḱ-|t=to build]] on grounds of meaning and thinks it probably a loanword, as words for vessels often are.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) From the same Latin noun come [[teschio]], [[testuggine]] and [[testaceo]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the word to 1295.^(GRADIT 2003) GDLI quotes Guittone d'Arezzo, who died in 1294: “Ben li occhi aprimo, non quelli de la testa ma de la mente” (let us open our eyes, not those of the head but those of the mind).^(GDLI|20, 987) DELI's first record of the anatomical sense is in Dante (1300–1313), and the top of the skull covered with hair follows in the ''Purgatorio'' (1313–1319).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the mid-14th century Matteo Villani uses ''testa'' for intelligence and for a single person in counting (“uno per testa d'uomo”, one per man).^(DELI 1999) Machiavelli (1514–1520) uses it for the front of a column of troops.^(DELI 1999) Later senses follow the shape of the head: the thick end of a long object (1607), a head in sculpture or painting (1939–1940), a horse's head as a margin in racing (1891), first place in a competition (1965) and the cylinder head of an engine (1961).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The phrases ''testa calda'' and ''testa d'uovo'' are calques of English ''hot-head'' and ''egghead''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The ''testone'', a silver coin struck in Milan from the 15th century with an unusually large head of the ruler, is recorded in 1542, and in slang the word later meant a million lire.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Testardo'' “stubborn” is in Oudin's dictionary of 1640, though D'Alberti still did not record it in 1805.^(DELI 1999)

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+ The old sense “earthen pot” is found in 14th-century translations and lives on in southern dialects for a flower pot.^(DEI|3774)^(REW 1935) Tommaseo–Bellini noted that in 19th-century Tuscan use ''testa'' was said especially of large animals, and ''capo'' of pigs, fowl and fish as food.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo writes of “the eyes of the head”.^(GDLI|20, 987)

+ * 1295 – GRADIT's date of first record.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''testa'' for the head of people and animals.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses ''testa'' for intelligence and for a person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1514–1520 – Machiavelli uses ''testa'' for the front of a column.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1542 – The coin ''testone'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1640 – ''Testardo'' appears in Oudin.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – ''Testa'' as a margin in horse racing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1965 – ''Testa'' for first place in a race.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|head]] of a person or animal: ''Il gatto ha infilato la testa nella scatola.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # The top of the head covered with [[m|en|hair]]; the hair itself: ''Aveva la testa piena di riccioli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The [[m|en|mind]], intelligence, reason; attention: ''Oggi non ho la testa per studiare.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A person, counted as one: ''Abbiamo pagato venti euro a testa.''^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Life, in phrases about losing or saving it, originally alluding to beheading: ''rischiare la testa''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A head in sculpture or painting; the side of a coin with a head on it, the [[m|en|obverse]]: ''testa o croce'' “heads or tails”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The front or top end of something: the head of a nail, of a column or procession, the front of a train; first place in a race or ranking: ''essere in testa''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mechanics)'' The [[m|en|cylinder head]] of an internal combustion engine.^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(football)'' A header, in ''di testa'': ''Ha segnato di testa all’ultimo minuto.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[testata]]

+ * [[testiera]]

+ * [[testardo]]

+ * [[testardaggine]]

+ * [[intestardirsi]]

+ * [[testina]]

+ * [[testolina]]

+ * [[testone]]

+ * [[testacoda]]

+ * [[testatico]]

+ * [[attestarsi]]

+ * [[intestare]]

+ * [[intestazione]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[capo]]

+ * [[teschio]]

+ * [[testuggine]]

+ * [[la|testa]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases include ''mal di testa'' “headache”, ''a testa alta'' “with head held high”, ''dare alla testa'' “to go to one's head”, ''testa a testa'' “neck and neck” and ''fuori di testa'' “crazy”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary) A botanical ''testa'' “seed coat”, recorded from 1961, is a separate learned word, from the Latin ''textus'', past participle of ''texere'' “to weave”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|20, 995) An old ''testa'' “earthenware pot” is the Latin word in its first sense.^(DEI|3774)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}