acqua Italian · revision 37764

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1224, Francis of Assisi|origins=itc-pro *akʷā}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈak.kwa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''acqua''' ''f'' (plural acque, diminutive acquerèlla or acquétta or acquicèlla or acquolìna)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old texts also have [[roa-oit|aqua]], [[roa-oit|agua]] and [[roa-oit|aigua]].^(GDLI)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|aqua|alt=ăqua|t=water]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(LEI|3, 388) The doubled consonant is old: the Appendix Probi already corrects a Late Latin pronunciation with -cqu-.^(LEI|3, 388)^(Körting 1907)^(Devoto 1968) The LEI divides the outcomes into three groups: forms such as [[lij|aigua]] in northern Italy, Gaul and Iberia, the type with /kkw/ in central and southern Italy, and a type with /au/ in the far south and in Mozarabic.^(LEI|3, 388) Whether the Old Italian forms with /ai/ came from Old Occitan through the Sicilian poets or from the north into Old Tuscan cannot be decided.^(LEI|3, 388)

+

+ The word is pan-Romance: [[fr|eau]], [[oc|aiga]], [[ca|aigua]], [[es|agua]], [[sc|abba]], [[fur|aghe]] and [[ro|apă]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin word goes back to [[itc-pro|*akʷā]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its only close cognates are Germanic, [[got|𐌰𐍈𐌰|tr=ahwa|t=river]] and [[goh|aha]], from [[gem-pro|*ahwō]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini reconstructs a PIE form for water as an active element, and Wiktionary gives [[ine-pro|*h₂ékʷeh₂]], while de Vaan thinks the Germanic and Italic word may be a loan from a non-Indo-European language.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) Devoto calls it a word of the north-western Indo-European languages, also found in [[de|Aue|t=wet meadow]].^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the ''Canticle of the Creatures'' of Francis of Assisi, in 1224: ''Laudato si, mi Signore, per sor Aqua, / la quale è molto utile e umile e preziosa e casta'' (“Praised be you, my Lord, for Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “rain” is recorded in Dante in 1293–1294, “urine” in Giordano da Pisa in 1305–1306, and “a body of water, river, lake or sea” in Dante before 1321.^(DELI 1999) In many dialects ''acqua'' has replaced [[la|pluvia]] as the word for rain.^(DEI|44) The poets of the Sicilian school and their Tuscan followers wrote ''aigua'', as Guido delle Colonne and Guinizelli did.^(GDLI)

+

+ From Medieval Latin came compounds such as ''acquavite'' (''aqua vitae'', “water of life”, before 1484 in Pulci as ''acqua vita'') and ''acquaforte'', nitric acid (Medieval Latin ''aqua fortis'' at Piacenza in 1336).^(DELI 1999) Benvenuto Cellini used ''acqua'' for the clarity of a precious stone (before 1571), whence ''della più bell'acqua'', “of the purest kind” (1922).^(DELI 1999) ''Acqua di soda'' is a calque of English ''soda water'', and ''acqua di Colonia'' is named after the city of its inventor.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Many proverbs and set phrases use the word: ''acqua in bocca!'' (“keep it quiet!”), ''acqua passata non macina più'' (“what is past is past”) and ''il sangue non è acqua''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In 19th-century English slang ''aqua'' came from Italian and the Lingua Franca.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1224 – Francis of Assisi praises ''sor Aqua''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante uses ''acqua'' for rain.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for urine.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a body of water.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1336 – Medieval Latin ''aqua fortis'' is recorded at Piacenza.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci writes ''acqua vita''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1519 – Leonardo da Vinci writes ''acquavite''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini uses ''acqua'' for the clarity of a gem.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1922 – ''Della più bell'acqua'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|water]], the clear liquid without colour, smell or taste that is essential to life: ''Mi porti un bicchiere d'acqua frizzante?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' The compound of two atoms of [[m|en|hydrogen]] and one of oxygen, as liquid, ice or vapour.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In ancient philosophy, one of the four [[m|en|element|alt=elements]].^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # [[m|en|rain]]: ''Stanotte è venuta giù tanta acqua.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A mass or stretch of water, often in the plural: ''le acque del lago''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(plural)'' [[m|en|spa]] waters: ''Ogni estate va a Montecatini per le acque.''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(rowing)'' A lane in a race.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The juice of fruit and vegetables, or a liquid preparation in pharmacy and perfumery.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # The clarity and brilliance of a precious stone.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(plural)'' The [[m|en|amniotic fluid]]: ''Le si sono rotte le acque.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[acquaio]]

+ * [[acquaiolo]]

+ * [[acquamarina]]

+ * [[acquaplano]]

+ * [[acquaragia]]

+ * [[acquata]]

+ * [[acquatinta]]

+ * [[acquavite]]

+ * [[acquaforte]]

+ * [[acquafortista]]

+ * [[acquasanta]]

+ * [[acquerello]]

+ * [[acquerugiola]]

+ * [[acquetta]]

+ * [[acquolina]]

+ * [[acqueo]]

+ * [[annacquare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[acquamanile]]

+ * [[acquare]]

+ * [[Acquario]]

+ * [[acquario]]

+ * [[acquatico]]

+ * [[acquatile]]

+ * [[acquato]]

+ * [[acquazzone]]

+ * [[acquedotto]]

+ * [[acquitrino]]

+ * [[acquoso]]

+ * [[la|aqua]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Tommaseo notes that the word was written ''acqua'', not ''aqua'', even when spelling followed Latin closely, because Tuscan and the dialects pronounce the /k/.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}