droga Italian · revision 38114

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=1502, Marino Sanudo|origins=dum drôge}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈdrɔ.ɡa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''droga''' ''f'' (plural droghe)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI|4, 1010) The usual explanation is a word for “dry”: For Nocentini it is [[bor|frm|drogue]], from [[gml|drōge|t=dry]] in a phrase meaning “dry barrels”, so that the property of the casks passed to the goods packed in them.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1394)^(Zaccaria 1901) Wiktionary starts from [[dum|drôge|t=dry]],^(Wiktionary) and Devoto and Treccani from [[nl|droog|t=dry]].^(Devoto 1968)^(Treccani 2011) DELI accepts the Dutch source but finds neither the change of meaning nor the route into Italian clear: the noun probably came through [[es|droga]] (late 15th century), while the derivatives may have come from French.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT also thinks of Spanish, and Prati takes the Italian word from Spanish or Portuguese and those from French, which has the word from the 14th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Prati 1951|393) DEI reports another view, which derives the word through Spain from Arabic.^(DEI|1394)

+

+ French was the centre from which it spread to [[es|droga]], [[de|Droge]] and [[en|drug]].^(Nocentini 2010) Tommaseo mentions a derivation from a Persian word for “fraud” but does not accept it.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Marino Sanudo's diaries, in 1502 at Venice, for an aromatic vegetable substance used to season food, that is a spice.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Filippo Sassetti, in the 16th century, writes of merchants' money spent on cloves “e l'altre droghe” (and the other spices).^(GDLI|4, 1010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the 19th century the word meant spices and other goods from the Levant and the East Indies, and the Florentine pharmacists' ''Ricettario'' used it for the raw materials of medicines.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|1394) [[drogheria|alt=Drogheria]] meant “spices” before 1562 and “grocer's shop” from 1681, and [[droghiere]], the grocer, is in Francesco Redi (1681–1682) and in Venetian from 1660.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The sense “narcotic substance” is first found in Carlo Botta in 1834, and DEI places its spread in the 20th century.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1394) Then came [[drogato]] “drug addict” (1958) and [[drogaggio]] “doping” (1963).^(DELI 1999) Modern Italian distinguishes ''droghe leggere'' (soft drugs) from ''droghe pesanti'' (hard drugs), and the word is used figuratively for any habit one cannot give up.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1502 – First record, in Marino Sanudo's diaries.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1562 – ''Drogaria'' “spices” in Pietro Fortini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1660 – Venetian ''droghier'' “grocer”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1681 – ''Drogheria'' “grocer's shop” in Filippo Baldinucci.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1834 – Carlo Botta uses ''droga'' for a narcotic.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1869 – ''Drogare'' “to season with spices” in Tommaseo–Bellini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1958 – ''Drogato'' “drug addict”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1963 – ''Drogaggio'' “doping”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly plural)'' A [[m|en|spice]], a dried vegetable substance such as pepper or cinnamon used to flavour food.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(pharmacology)'' A natural product containing one or more active substances with a medicinal effect.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|drug]], a natural or synthetic substance with narcotic, stimulating or hallucinogenic effects; also, drugs collectively: ''La polizia ha sequestrato due chili di droga al porto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A stimulant taken to improve the performance of an athlete or a horse.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A habit or passion one cannot do without: ''Per mio fratello il calcio è una droga.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[drogare]]

+ * [[drogato]]

+ * [[drogheria]]

+ * [[droghiere]]

+ * [[drogaggio]]

+ * [[droghista]]

+ * [[antidroga]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[drogarsi]]

+ * [[fr|drogue]]

+ * [[en|drug]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''droga'' of the dialects of Lombardy, around Brescia, names burdock and coltsfoot;^(DEI|1394)^(Cortelazzo & Marcato 1998) DEI and Cortelazzo–Marcato trace it to a pre-Latin ''*dravoca'', which glosses attribute to the Gauls.^(DEI|1394)^(Cortelazzo & Marcato 1998)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}