vecchio Italian · revision 37786

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1211, account book of Florentine bankers|origins=ine-pro *wétos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈvɛk.kjo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vecchio''' (feminine vecchia, masculine plural vecchi, feminine plural vecchie, superlative vecchissimo, diminutive (meaning “beginning to get old” referring to people; derogatory when referring to things) vecchìno or vecchiétto or vecchiettìno, augmentative vecchiòtto, pejorative vecchiàccio, diminutive-derogatory vecchiùccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include [[roa-oit|veckio]], [[roa-oit|vechio]], [[roa-oit|veclo]], [[roa-oit|vegio]] and [[roa-oit|veglo]].^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|21, 689)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|veclus]], the spoken form of [[la|vetulus|t=elderly, rather old]], a diminutive of [[m|la|vetus|t=old]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Appendix Probi of the 5th century warns against the popular form with the rule “vetulus non veclus”: the unusual cluster /tl/ of the syncopated form had been replaced by the commoner /kl/.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Like many words of familiar speech, the diminutive soon lost its diminutive force;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini notes that it was first used of the age of animals.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The plain adjective [[m|la|vetus]] survives in place names, above all in the south, and the spread of the diminutive in Italy was a fairly late Tuscan innovation, as Paul Aebischer showed from medieval charters.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The same word is [[fr|vieil]], [[oc|vielh]], [[ca|vell]], [[es|viejo]], [[pt|velho]], [[dlm|vieklo]] and [[ro|vechi]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) The Old Italian words [[veglio]] and [[vegliardo]] are later borrowings of the French and Occitan forms of the same Latin word.^(Prati 1951|1040)^(REW 1935)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|vetus]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*wetos-|t=year]], a noun, from [[ine-pro|*wétos|t=year]]; the sense shifted from “year” to “having many years”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Related words are [[grc|ἔτος|tr=étos|t=year]], [[sa|वत्सर|tr=vatsará|t=year]] and [[cu|ветъхъ|tr=vetŭxŭ|t=old]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the form ''veckio'' in an account book of Florentine bankers of 1211, in the sense “of former times, of an earlier period”, the date GRADIT gives for the word.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The sense “of a person who has lived many years” is in Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the early 14th century the adjective covered most of its modern range.^(DELI 1999) It meant “worn out by long use” in the Sienese statute of the gabelle (1301–1303), “ancient” and, as a noun, “old person” in Dante, and in the Italian Crescenzi (about 1350) “that has existed for a long time” and, of crops, “from the previous year”.^(DELI 1999) Dante's tailor squints at the eye of his needle: “come ’l vecchio sartor fa ne la cruna” (as the old tailor does at the needle's eye).^(GDLI|21, 689) Filippo Villani, before 1405, uses it after a name to tell an elder namesake from a younger one, as in ''Plinio il Vecchio''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ The plural ''i vecchi'' meant “the ancients, our forebears” in Vincenzo Borghini (before 1580) and “one's parents” from Rigutini and Fanfani's dictionary of 1875.^(DELI 1999) The derivatives date from the same centuries: ''vecchiezza'' (about 1300) gave way to ''vecchiaia'' (before 1535, Berni), which Prati derived from a Late Latin ''*vetularia'', and ''vecchiume'', a heap of old things, is recorded in the 15th century.^(DELI 1999) Dante once used the French loan ''vegliezza'' “old age”.^(DELI 1999) English has used ''vecchio'' as a noun, “old man”, since about 1570.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1211 – ''Veckio'' appears in the account book of Florentine bankers.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it of an aged person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1300 – ''Vecchiezza'' “old age” is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1301–1303 – The Sienese gabelle statute uses it for worn-out things.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “ancient” and as a noun, “old person”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1405 – Filippo Villani uses it for the elder of two namesakes.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses ''vecchiaia''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1570 – English first records ''vecchio'' “old man”.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1875 – ''I vecchi'' “one's parents” is recorded by Rigutini and Fanfani.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|old]], [[m|en|elderly]]: of a person in the last part of life; also of animals and plants: ''Il vecchio pastore conosceva ogni sentiero.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Older than someone else, in comparisons; after a famous name, the elder of two namesakes (''Catone il Vecchio'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Having been in a condition or role for a long time; long-standing: ''Siamo vecchi compagni di scuola.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Experienced, seasoned in a field: ''un vecchio lupo di mare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # [[m|en|former]], previous, replaced by something newer: ''Il vecchio direttore è andato in pensione.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Dating from long ago, [[m|en|ancient]]; of other times, as opposed to new: ''il centro vecchio della città''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Worn by use, shabby; outdated, [[m|en|old-fashioned]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of food and drink, aged or seasoned; of crops, from the previous year.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An old man or woman, ''i vecchi'', old people.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial, plural)'' One's parents.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(singular)'' What is old, outworn or out of date.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vecchiaia]]

+ * [[vecchiezza]]

+ * [[vecchietto]]

+ * [[vecchierello]]

+ * [[vecchiotto]]

+ * [[vecchione]]

+ * [[vecchiume]]

+ * [[vecchiardo]]

+ * [[invecchiare]]

+ * [[invecchiamento]]

+ * [[svecchiare]]

+ * [[stravecchio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[veglio]]

+ * [[vegliardo]]

+ * [[vieto]]

+ * [[la|vetus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate obsolete noun ''vecchio'' survives only in ''vecchio marino'' “seal”, from Late Latin ''vitulus marinus'' “sea calf”, through a Vulgar Latin form ''*vitlus'';^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) GRADIT dates it before 1484, and Luigi Pulci has “e il marin vecchio fuor dell'acqua uscia” (and the seal came out of the water).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) The comparisons ''vecchio come il cucco'' and ''vecchio come Matusalemme'' both mean “very old”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}