bocca Italian · revision 37987

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum|origins=la bucca}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbok.ka/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bocca''' ''f'' (plural bocche)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include ''boca'', ''bocha'', ''buca'' and southern ''vocca'' and ''vucca''.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|bucca|t=cheek; mouth]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word first meant “cheek”, as it still does in [[ro|bucă]], and, from Cato onwards also “mouth” in familiar speech, where it displaced the classical [[la|ōs|t=mouth]].^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|7, 1100)^(de Vaan 2008) DELI lists the reasons that have been suggested: confusion with the word for “bone” or with a form of the word for “ear”, the shortness of the monosyllable, or its lack of expressiveness.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini puts it down to the vividness of the new word, shown by its many derivatives and figurative uses.^(Nocentini 2010) The Latin word also meant “mouthful”, a sense kept in Modern Greek and expressed in Italian by [[boccone]] or [[boccata]], the latter from [[la-vul|*buccāta]].^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|545)

+

+ The word is found throughout the Romance languages: [[fr|bouche]], [[oc|boca]], [[ca|boca]], [[es|boca]], [[pt|boca]] and [[sc|bucca]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|7, 1100) It was also borrowed outside Romance, into [[br|boc'h]], Welsh, Albanian, Berber and the Greek of Cyprus.^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|7, 1100)

+

+ The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan finds that the sense “mouth” was at first derogatory, and reports that Ernout and Meillet suspected a Celtic origin, because of its likeness to [[la|beccus|t=beak]] and Celtic personal names such as Buccus;^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968) Devoto also thought it Gaulish.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968) A link with Germanic words for a swelling would, if right, point to a non-Indo-European source, and the LEI considers an expressive base meaning “swollen”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(LEI|7, 1100)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum'' of the late 12th century, in the anatomical sense, the organ through which people and animals take in food.^(TLIO) DELI has ''boca'' in Giacomo da Lentini (before 1250), ''bocha'' in the Bolognese Memoriali of 1282 and ''bocca'' in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|7, 1100)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “lips” appears in Chiaro Davanzati in the 13th century, and Giovanni Villani (before 1348) counted people as ''bocche'' to be fed.^(DELI 1999) Dante (1300–1313) used the word for the opening of a container, a pipe or a cavity, and Medieval Latin documents from Venice (1270) and Modena (1327) already have it for the mouth of an oven and of a canal.^(DELI 1999) The mouth of a river is recorded in 15th-century portolans, and in the plural the word named a narrow sea passage from the 13th century, as in ''Bocche di Bonifacio''.^(DELI 1999) Cellini (before 1571) uses it for the muzzle of a firearm, and ''bocca da fuoco'' “piece of artillery” is recorded in 1582.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The good-luck wish ''in bocca al lupo'' comes from theatre slang, which took it from hunters; it works by contrast, since to go into the wolf's mouth meant certain ruin.^(DELI 1999) The ''Bocca della Verità'' in Rome was a stone mask said to bite off the hand of anyone who swore falsely.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ English borrowed ''bocca'' as a glassmaking term in 1799 and for the mouth of a volcano in 1881.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The word appears in the Venetian ''Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''boca''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1270 – Medieval Latin ''bocas'' is used for the openings of a furnace at Venice.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – ''Bocha'' appears in the Memoriali bolognesi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for an opening.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for a person to be fed.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1571 – Cellini uses it for the muzzle of a gun.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1582 – ''Bocca da fuoco'' “artillery piece” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1799 – English borrows ''bocca'' as a glassmaking term.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|mouth]] of a person or an animal: ''Non si parla con la bocca piena.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|lips]]: ''Si è asciugato la bocca col tovagliolo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' The teeth.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A person counted as someone to feed: ''In quella famiglia ci sono sei bocche da sfamare.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # The opening of a container, an oven, a pipe or a wound: ''la bocca del pozzo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(geography)'' The mouth of a river; in the plural, a [[m|en|strait]]; a narrow mountain pass.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # The [[m|en|muzzle]] of a firearm, ''bocca da fuoco'': a piece of artillery.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[boccata]]

+ * [[boccone]]

+ * [[bocchino]]

+ * [[bocchetta]]

+ * [[boccaccia]]

+ * [[boccheggiare]]

+ * [[boccaporto]]

+ * [[boccaglio]]

+ * [[abboccare]]

+ * [[imboccare]]

+ * [[sboccare]]

+ * [[rimboccare]]

+ * [[bocca di leone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[orale]]

+ * [[la|bucca]]

+ * [[fr|bouche]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Many set phrases use the word: ''in bocca al lupo'' (good luck), ''a bocca aperta'' (open-mouthed, amazed), ''a bocca asciutta'' (empty-handed), ''acqua in bocca'' (keep it quiet).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}