cavallo Italian · revision 38082

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Ritmo laurenziano|origins=la caballus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kaˈval.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cavallo''' ''m'' (plural cavalli, feminine cavalla, diminutive cavallìno or (only in specific meanings) cavallétto, augmentative cavallóne or cavallòtto, pejorative cavallàccio, endearing-derogatory cavallùccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian has ''caval'' and the old plural ''cavagli'', still listed as archaic, and northern texts have ''cavalo'' (Old Genoese, Venetian) and ''caval'' (Old Milanese, Bonvesin).^(TLIO)^(Treccani 2011)^(LEI|9, 99)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|caballus|t=workhorse, gelding]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Classical Latin called the horse [[m|la|equus]], an old Indo-European name;^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|9, 99) “caballus” appears from the 2nd century BC, first in Lucilius, for the draught and work horse, often the gelding, with a disparaging tone, and the grammarians call it a popular word.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|9, 99) The Romance languages have no outcome of “equus”, only of “caballus”, though the feminine [[m|la|equa|t=mare]] partly survives.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|9, 99) The DÉRom reconstructs [[la-vul|*caballus|alt=*/kaˈβall-u/]] for Proto-Romance, probably born in Italy in contact with Greek, and explains its victory over “equus” by the use of the horse as a draught animal in daily work.^(DÉRom)

+

+ The word is found in every Romance language: [[fr|cheval]], [[ca|cavall]], [[es|caballo]], [[pt|cavalo]], [[sc|caddu]], [[fur|cjaval]], [[ro|cal]] and Vegliote [[m|dlm|kavúl]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|9, 99) [[ga|capall]] and [[cy|ceffyl]] are early loans from Latin, and Nocentini counts [[cu|кобыла|tr=kobyla|t=mare]] among them, while DEI thinks it entered Slavic independently.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|826)

+

+ The origin of “caballus” is unknown and disputed.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The words [[grc|καβάλλης|tr=kabállēs|t=nag]], an inscription from Callatis of the 3rd century BC and Hesychius's glosses show an older word in the Balkans;^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan takes the Latin as a loanword too, perhaps from Asia, after Beekes, comparing [[fa|کول|tr=kaval|t=second-class horse of mixed blood]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The LEI thinks it Celtic, with a Gaulish “cabo” “horse” and a suffix, DELI and DEI a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean relic, and Nocentini suggests an ethnic name, as [[fr|hongre|t=gelding]] is properly “Hungarian”.^(LEI|9, 99)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|826)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the shortened ''caval'' in the ''Ritmo laurenziano'', a Tuscan poem of the late 12th century, and ''cavallo'' in a Florentine account book of 1211, both for the animal.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the horse marked the rank of the knight: ''andare a cavallo'' and ''essere messo a cavallo'' expressed the condition of a ''cavaliere'', and ''cavallo'' could mean a mounted soldier.^(TLIO) The chess knight is a ''cavallo'' before 1449 in Burchiello, the playing card from 1545 in Pietro Aretino (Este ''cavalo'' from 1475), the gymnastic vaulting horse in 1895 and the crotch of trousers in 1956.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) ''Cavallo vapore'' “horsepower” came through French ''cheval-vapeur'' (1822) from English ''horse-power''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Proverbs and phrases include ''a caval donato non si guarda in bocca'' (don't look a gift horse in the mouth), ''cavallo di battaglia'' (an actor's showpiece, one's strongest suit) and ''a cavallo di due secoli'' (at the turn of two centuries).^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010) In 1472 Ferdinand I of Naples issued a copper coin called ''cavallo'' after the horse on its reverse.^(DIFIT)^(DEI|826) Recent slang uses ''cavallo'' for a small-time drug courier.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Caval'' in the ''Ritmo laurenziano''.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * 1211 – ''Cavallo'' in a Florentine account book.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1449 – The chess knight, in Burchiello.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1472 – The Neapolitan copper coin ''cavallo''.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1545 – The playing card, in Pietro Aretino.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1806 – German ''Caval'' for the playing card.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1869 – ''Cavallo vapore''.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1895 – The vaulting horse in gymnastics.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|horse]], the large domestic hoofed mammal ''Equus caballus'', used for riding and draught: ''Da bambino andavo a cavallo tutte le estati.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chess)'' The [[m|en|knight]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A figure of the Italian playing cards, a man on horseback.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DIFIT)

+ # ''(roulette)'' A bet on two adjacent numbers.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # The [[m|en|crotch]] of trousers or tights: ''Questi jeans hanno il cavallo troppo basso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(gymnastics)'' The vaulting horse or pommel horse.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(physics)'' Short for ''cavallo vapore'', [[m|en|horsepower]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang)'' A small-time drug pusher or courier.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cavalla]]

+ * [[cavallino]]

+ * [[cavalletta]]

+ * [[cavalletto]]

+ * [[cavallone]]

+ * [[cavalluccio]]

+ * [[cavallaio]]

+ * [[cavalcare]]

+ * [[cavalcata]]

+ * [[cavalcatura]]

+ * [[cavalcavia]]

+ * [[cavalcioni]]

+ * [[cavaliere]]

+ * [[cavalleria]]

+ * [[cavalleresco]]

+ * [[cavalleggero]]

+ * [[accavallare]]

+ * [[scavallare]]

+ * [[cavallo vapore]]

+ * [[cavallo di battaglia]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[caciocavallo]]

+ * [[la|caballus]]

+ * [[fr|cheval]]

+ * [[es|caballo]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The female is ''cavalla''; many derivatives go back to Latin words formed from “caballus”: ''cavalcare'' to Late Latin ''caballicare'', ''cavallino'' to ''caballinus''.^(DELI 1999) ''Cavaliere'', from Late Latin ''caballarius'', came to Italian through Old Occitan ''cavalier'', like other feudal words.^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935) ''Cavallerizzo'' and ''cavallerizza'' are Spanish loans.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}