culo Italian · revision 37946

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1252–1258, Storie de Troia e de Roma|origins=la cūlus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈku.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''culo''' ''m'' (plural culi, diminutive culétto or culìno, augmentative culóne, pejorative culàccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian texts also spell it [[roa-oit|chulo]], [[roa-oit|chullo]] and [[roa-oit|qulo]], with a southern [[roa-oit|culu]] and a shortened [[roa-oit|cul]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|cūlus|t=backside, anus]], a word recorded in Latin from Catullus on.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DÉRom)^(Wiktionary) It survives in every Romance language without exception, so the DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance noun for it.^(DÉRom) The same word is [[fr|cul]], [[oc|cul]], [[ca|cul]], [[es|culo]], [[sc|culu]], [[fur|cul]], [[dlm|col]] and [[ro|cur]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin noun has close relatives only in Celtic: [[sga|cúl|t=back]] and [[cy|cil|t=corner, angle]], from [[cel-pro|*kūlos]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*kūlo-|t=back]] and [[ine-pro|*kuH-lo-|t=backside, rear]].^(de Vaan 2008) The older explanation from a root meaning “to cover, hide”, which Nocentini still favours (the parts to be hidden, as perhaps also in [[la|cunnus]]), rests on a root that the LIV has given up; de Vaan suggests instead a link with [[la|cutis|t=skin]] and a root meaning “to cleave”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Roman ''Storie de Troia e de Roma'' (1252–1258), and its first sense is the anus.^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “backside, bottom” to Rustico Filippi, who died before 1300.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the word for the hind part of animals and, figuratively, for the end of an oblong object.^(TLIO) Dante's devil who “avea del cul fatto trombetta” (had made a trumpet of his arse) is in the ''Inferno''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|1, 1854) The sense “bottom of a vessel or object” is recorded before 1571 in Benvenuto Cellini, and Tommaseo lists it for pans, cauldrons, candles, eggs, flasks and glasses.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|1, 1854) A 15th-century traveller, Quirino (1431), called the North Cape ''Culo mundi'', and in Rome ''in culibus mundi'' still means “in the back of beyond”.^(Prati 1951|356)

+

+ Derivatives name things at the back or the bottom: ''culatta'', the breech of a gun (before 1537, Biringuccio), and also a cut of beef in the northern dialects, ''culaccio'', the Tuscan word for that cut (before 1565, Varchi), and ''culatello'', a cured ham from the Parma area (1908).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Rinculare'' “to recoil” (14th century) follows French ''reculer''.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ In the 20th century the word took two vulgar senses: sheer luck, as in ''che culo!'' and ''avere culo'', and, as an insult, a male homosexual.^(GDLI|Supplemento 2009)^(GRADIT 2003) Many vulgar idioms are built on it, such as ''prendere per il culo'' “to make fun of”, ''farsi il culo'' “to work very hard”, ''essere culo e camicia'' “to be inseparable” and ''in culo alla balena'', a jocular wish of good luck.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1252–1258 – The Roman ''Storie de Troia e de Roma'' have the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1300 – Rustico Filippi uses ''culo'' for the backside.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Rinculare'' “to recoil” is formed after French ''reculer''.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1431 – Quirino calls the North Cape ''Culo mundi''.^(Prati 1951|356)

+ * Before 1537 – ''Culatta'' “breech of a gun” appears in Biringuccio.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1571 – Benvenuto Cellini uses ''culo'' for the bottom of an object.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1908 – ''Culatello'' is recorded in Panzini's dictionary.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(vulgar)'' The [[m|en|buttocks]], bottom, arse: ''Sono scivolato sul ghiaccio e ho preso una botta al culo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' The [[m|en|anus]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The bottom or base of a container or object: ''Sul culo della bottiglia c'era ancora un dito di vino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative, vulgar)'' Outrageous [[m|en|luck]]: ''Ha vinto al primo tentativo: che culo!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI|Supplemento 2009)

+ # ''(vulgar, derogatory)'' A male [[m|en|homosexual]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(GDLI|Supplemento 2009)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[culaccio]]

+ * [[culata]]

+ * [[culatello]]

+ * [[culatta]]

+ * [[culbianco]]

+ * [[culattone]]

+ * [[inculare]]

+ * [[inculata]]

+ * [[rinculare]]

+ * [[rinculo]]

+ * [[sculacciare]]

+ * [[sculacciata]]

+ * [[sculaccione]]

+ * [[sculettare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|culus]]

+ * [[fr|cul]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The word is vulgar in every sense.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) Its diminutives are ''culetto'' and ''culino'', the augmentative ''culone'' and the pejorative ''culaccio''.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010) In several dialects ''culo dell'ago'' is the eye of a needle, as French has ''cul d'une aiguille''.^(DEI|1188)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}