bugia Italian · revision 38211

+ Italian has two nouns spelled ''bugia'': the lie, from Occitan, and the candleholder, from French.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI numbers the candleholder first, GRADIT and Nocentini the lie, which is also recorded first.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ {{homograph|1|lie}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur (Venice)|origins=frk *bausī}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /buˈd͡ʒi.a/, /buˈʒi.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bugia''' ''f'' (plural bugie)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|bausia]], [[roa-oit|bosia]], [[roa-oit|buscia]] and [[roa-oit|buxia]].^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) The diphthong of ''bausia'' is found in Lombardy and Venice in the early 13th century and survives in [[fur|bausie]].^(LEI|4, 643)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The lie is [[bor|pro|bauzia|t=deceit, treachery]], from [[frk|*bausī|t=wickedness]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) The Germanic word is the source of [[goh|bōsi|t=bad]] and [[de|böse|t=evil]], and Wiktionary traces it to [[gem-pro|*bausuz|t=puffed up, bad]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(Zaccaria 1901)

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+ The LEI doubts the Occitan route: the Friulian form keeps its diphthong, which an Occitan word could hardly have done on its way through northern Italy, and Carolingian Latin already had [[la-med|bauzia|t=fraud, treachery]] (959) and the verb [[m|la-med|bausiō|alt=bausiare|t=to deceive]].^(LEI|4, 643) It sets out from [[goh|*bausja|t=wickedness]].^(LEI|4, 643) DELI also allows a direct borrowing, and Prati keeps Occitan only as a possible intermediary.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|189)

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+ The derivative [[bugiardo]] comes from the northern [[roa-oit|bugiadro]], with the suffix [[-ardo]] in place of the older ending.^(DELI 1999) [[pro|bauzador]] lies behind it in Meyer-Lübke's view.^(REW 1935)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', of the last quarter of the 12th century.^(TLIO) The northern forms ''bausia'' and ''baosia'' follow in the 13th century, in Uguccione da Lodi and Paolo Zoppo, and ''bugia'' is in Brunetto Latini and the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999) The sense is a false statement made to deceive.^(TLIO)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Bono Giamboni repeated Saint Augustine's definition: “a lie, according to Saint Augustine, is speaking with a false voice with the intention of deceiving” (''Bugia, secondo Santo Agostino, si è parlare di falsa boce, con intenzione d'ingannare'').^(GDLI) In Old Italian ''bugia'' also meant slander and false doctrine, and ''senza bugia'' meant “truly”.^(TLIO)

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+ ''Bugia pietosa'', a white lie told to spare someone pain, became common through Verdi's ''La Traviata'' of 1853, where the doctor is allowed one.^(DELI 1999) By 1876 the word also named the white spots on the fingernails, which children are told come from the lies they tell.^(Prati 1951|189)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In Piedmont ''bugie'' are the fried carnival pastries known elsewhere as ''chiacchiere''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' has the word.^(TLIO)

+ * 13th century – ''Bausia'' and ''baosia'' appear in Uguccione da Lodi and Paolo Zoppo.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – Patecchio uses ''bogiadro'' “liar”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''bugia''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1853 – ''La Traviata'' popularises ''bugia pietosa''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1876 – The sense “white spot on a fingernail” is recorded.^(Prati 1951|189)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|lie]], a statement known to be untrue, usually made to deceive: ''Non dirmi bugie, so tutto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A small white spot on a fingernail.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(botany)'' The [[m|en|dandelion]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(regional, Piedmont; usually plural)'' A carnival pastry of fried dough dusted with sugar.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bugiardo]]

+ * [[bugiare]]

+ * [[bugiarderia]]

+ * [[bugiardaggine]]

+ * [[sbugiardare]]

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+ {{homograph|2|candleholder}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1622, Benedetto Buommattei}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /buˈd͡ʒi.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bugia''' ''f'' (plural bugie)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The candleholder is [[bor|fr|bougie|t=candle]], recorded in that sense from 1493.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The French word first named, from 1300, the fine wax imported from Bougie, the Algerian port now called Béjaïa, and then the candles made of it.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|629) The same French word is the source of [[es|bujía]] (1472) and the Portuguese and Catalan forms.^(DEI|629)

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+ The shift from candle to candleholder, which French calls [[m|fr|bougeoir]], took place in Italian.^(DELI 1999) DELI finds it too recent to support Pellegrini's idea of an early loan straight from the Arabic name of the town.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI, GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to 1622, in Benedetto Buommattei, who lists four priests holding the book, the candleholder, the crozier and the mitre.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI) Nocentini gives 1570.^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Redi tested the burning of wax at the candle of his ''bugia'' in the 17th century.^(GDLI) The word was Tuscan: Fanfani recorded it in 1863, and it was still in use in the countryside and the churches of Florence in the 1940s.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo also describes it as a lamp in a small oblong box, easy to carry about.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Medicine uses it for a thin rod used to explore or widen the urethra, French ''bougie''.^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1300 – French ''bougie'' names the wax from Bougie.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1493 – French ''bougie'' means “candle”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1622 – Buommattei uses ''bugia'' for a candleholder.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1863 – Fanfani records the word as Tuscan.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A low [[m|en|candleholder]] with a small dish and a handle: ''Prese la bugia e salì in camera.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A small portable oil lamp.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A [[m|en|bougie]], a thin rod for exploring or widening the urethra.^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[menzogna]]

+ * [[pro|bauzia]]

+ * [[fr|bougie]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''le bugie hanno le gambe corte'' “lies have short legs” means that lies are soon found out.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}