capello Italian · revision 38018

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=10th century, Glossario di Monza|origins=la capillus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kaˈpel.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''capello''' ''m'' (plural capelli)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|cavello]], [[roa-oit|capei]] and the old plural [[roa-oit|capegli]].^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) The plural ''capegli'' and the poetic ''capei'' are still listed as literary, and ''cavello'' as archaic and northern.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|capillus|t=hair of the head]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|732) The word continues in all the Romance languages except Romanian and Sardinian, which say [[ro|păr]] and [[sc|pilu]]: [[dlm|capei]], [[fr|cheveu]], [[ca|cabell]], [[es|cabello]] and [[pt|cabelo]].^(LEI|10, 1643)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(de Vaan 2008) The ancients linked it with [[la|caput|t=head]], and Isidore of Seville explained the word as [[m|la|capitis pīlī|t=hairs of the head]].^(GDLI|2, 679) De Vaan finds this hard in form, since a derivative of the word for “head” would have given a different vowel, and in meaning, since the word looks like a diminutive and “little head” is not “hair”.^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini prefers a derivation from [[la|capulō|t=to cut, shear]], which also had a variant [[m|la|capellō|alt=capellāre]].^(Nocentini 2010) DEI calls a connection with [[la|pilus|t=hair]] equally doubtful.^(DEI|732)

+

+ The old plural [[m|roa-oit|capegli]] lies behind [[capigliatura]], which also continues [[la|capillātūra]], and behind [[accapigliarsi]] and [[scapigliato]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the ''Glossario di Monza'', a 10th-century glossary from Lombardy.^(TLIO) The form ''cavello'' is in Cielo d'Alcamo before 1250, and ''capello'' at the end of the 13th century in the ''Novellino'', in the sense “a hair of the human head”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the plural also meant the whole head of hair, and the word was used for the fatal lock of Nisus or Dido in mythology, for the mane of a horse, and figuratively for the vegetation that covers the earth.^(TLIO) Guido Cavalcanti wrote of a girl with “cavelli … biondetti e ricciutelli” (fair, curly hair).^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ Derivatives date from the 14th century on: ''capelluto'' “long-haired” in Giovanni Villani (before 1348), ''capelvenere'' “maidenhair fern”, from Late Latin ''capillus Veneris'' “Venus's hair” (1310), ''capigliatura'' in Vasari (1550), the thin pasta ''capellini'' (1846), and ''capellone'' “a long-haired young man” (1962).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The learned ''capillare'' “thin as a hair” (about 1350) gave ''vaso capillare'', and its sense “widespread” is a metaphor from it.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Many idioms use the word: ''avere un diavolo per capello'' “to be in a foul temper”, ''averne fin sopra i capelli'' “to be fed up”, ''far rizzare i capelli'' “to make one's hair stand on end”, and ''spaccare il capello in quattro'' “to split hairs”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 10th century – The ''Glossario di Monza'' records the word.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1250 – ''Cavello'' in Cielo d'Alcamo.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * End of the 13th century – ''Capello'' in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – ''Capelluto'' “long-haired” in Giovanni Villani.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1550 – ''Capigliatura'' in Giorgio Vasari.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1846 – ''Capellini'', the pasta, is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1962 – ''Capellone'' “long-haired young man” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|hair]] of the human head: ''Ho trovato un capello bianco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' The hair of the head as a whole; a [[m|en|hairstyle]]: ''Si è tagliata i capelli cortissimi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A tiny amount, a hair's breadth: ''c'è mancato un capello'' “it was a close shave”, ''a capello'' “exactly”.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[capellatura]]

+ * [[capellini]]

+ * [[capellone]]

+ * [[capelluto]]

+ * [[capelvenere]]

+ * [[capigliatura]]

+ * [[capillare]]

+ * [[accapigliarsi]]

+ * [[scapigliato]]

+ * [[scapigliatura]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pelo]]

+ * [[cappello]]

+ * [[la|capillus]]

+ * [[fr|cheveu]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Capello'' “hair” and ''cappello'' “hat” differ only in the double ⟨pp⟩.^(Wiktionary) GDLI lists a rare second ''capello'' “head of an alembic”, of uncertain origin.^(GDLI|2, 679)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}