coglione Italian · revision 38254

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1252–1258, Storie de Troia e de Roma (Rome)|origins=la cōleus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /koʎˈʎo.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coglione''' ''m'' (plural coglioni)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include [[m|roa-oit|coglone]], [[m|roa-oit|colione]] and southern [[m|roa-oit|cugliuni]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|cōleō|t=testicle]], a noun of the Latin glossaries, with the stem ⟨cōleōn-⟩, formed on classical [[m|la|cōleus|t=testicle; scrotum]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini reconstructs the spoken form as [[m|la-vul|*coleōnem]], and the LEI notes that the glossary word is already recorded in the Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum.^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|15, 673) Meyer-Lübke found two senses there, “testicle” and “castrated man, coward”.^(REW 1935)

+

+ The word is found across the western Romance area: [[fr|couillon]], [[oc|colhon]], [[ca|colló]], [[es|cojón]], [[fur|cojòn]] and [[rm|cugliun]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|15, 673) DEI notes that it is missing from Romanian and Sardinian, which kept descendants of the classical noun instead.^(DEI|1003)^(REW 1935) Everywhere it also came to mean “fool, good-for-nothing”, as most words for the genitals did.^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|15, 673)

+

+ The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Wiktionary connects it with [[m|la|cōlō|t=to strain]] and with [[m|la|culleus|t=leather sack]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the ''Storie de Troia e de Roma'', a Roman text of 1252–1258, in the sense “testicle”.^(TLIO) DELI's first example is Bono Giamboni, before 1292, who tells how the wild ass attacks its male foals “to take off their testicles” (''per levarli li coglioni'').^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|3, 264)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian also used the word in botany, for a part of a plant shaped like a testicle.^(TLIO) The figurative sense “fool, simpleton” is recorded from Pietro Aretino in 1526.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) Tommaseo still records an obsolete term of fortification, the ''coglioni'' of bastions, and remarks that he leaves out most of “this fertile family” of words.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) DEI adds a nautical ''coglione'', the foot of a mast, adapted from Venetian ''cogion'' (17th century).^(DEI|1004)

+

+ Derivatives came with the figurative sense: ''coglioneria'' (16th century), ''coglionare'' “to make fun of” and ''coglionella'' (17th century), and much later ''rincoglionire'' (1863) and ''scoglionare'' “to annoy” (1882).^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1003) The dialects have the word everywhere, from Friulian ''cojòn'' to Roman ''cojone'' (Belli, 1834) and Sicilian ''cugghiuni''.^(LEI|15, 673)

+

+ French took the sense “fool” from northern Italian: ''coïon'' and its derivatives date from the 16th century, and DIFIT records ''couillon'' in this sense from 1560.^(DEI|1003)^(DIFIT) German ''Kujon'' “scoundrel” comes from the French word.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1252–1258 – First record, in the Roman ''Storie de Troia e de Roma''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''coglioni'' for the testicles of the wild ass.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1526 – Pietro Aretino uses the word for a fool.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1560 – French ''couillon'' “fool” is recorded, after the Italian word.^(DIFIT)

+ * 16th century – ''Coglioneria'' appears.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1863 – ''Rincoglionire'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1882 – ''Scoglionare'' “to annoy” is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(vulgar, usually in the plural)'' [[m|en|testicle]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(vulgar, figurative)'' [[m|en|idiot]], a stupid and useless person, used chiefly as an insult; feminine ''cogliona'': ''Sono stato un coglione a fidarmi di lui.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' Also as an adjective, silly, foolish, and in older use good-natured, meek.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[coglionare]]

+ * [[coglionella]]

+ * [[coglioneria]]

+ * [[coglionata]]

+ * [[rincoglionire]]

+ * [[rincoglionimento]]

+ * [[scoglionare]]

+ * [[scoglionato]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coglia]]

+ * [[la|coleus]]

+ * [[fr|couillon]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The plural forms many vulgar phrases: ''rompere i coglioni'' (to pester someone), ''far girare i coglioni'' (to make someone angry), ''stare sui coglioni'' (to be unbearable to someone), ''levarsi dai coglioni'' (to clear off) and ''avere i coglioni'' (to have guts, to be capable).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) In the plural it is also an interjection of surprise or anger.^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Fare la figura del coglione'' is to make a fool of oneself.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}