battaglia Italian · revision 38259

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=la battuō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /batˈtaʎ.ʎa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''battaglia''' ''f'' (plural battaglie)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include ''batalgia'' and ''bataglia'' (Giacomo da Lentini), ''batalglia'', ''vattaglia'' (the ''Miracole de Roma'') and ''battallia''.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI) Northern texts have ''bataia'', ''batagia'' and ''bataja''.^(LEI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|battālia|t=fighting exercises]], a variant of [[m|la-lat|battuālia]], the neuter plural of an adjective [[m|la|battuālis]], from [[m|la|battuō|t=to beat]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The grammarian Charisius records the word in the 4th century for the exercises of soldiers and gladiators, and Cassiodorus already treats it as a feminine noun in the 6th.^(LEI)^(DEI|461)

+

+ The word replaced classical [[la|proelium]] in the Romance languages: [[fr|bataille]], [[oc|batalha]], [[ca|batalla]], [[es|batalla]], [[pt|batalha]], [[fur|batàe]] and [[ro|bătaie]], which came to mean “a blow, a beating”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI)^(DEI|461) The Latin verb is of unknown origin, see [[battere]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Medieval Latin ''batalia'' is recorded at Vicenza in 1264 and at Parma in 1266.^(DELI 1999) In Italian the word appears in the first half of the 13th century in the Abate di Tivoli and in Giacomo da Lentini, around 1250, with the sense “a fight between armies at war”.^(LEI)^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense, a struggle or conflict, is in Guido Guinizelli before 1276.^(DELI 1999) In Old Italian the word also meant a body of troops drawn up for combat, as Old French and Old Occitan used it, a sense still in Giovanni Villani and Machiavelli.^(LEI)^(Prati 1951|122) The TLIO records an inner conflict of feelings and temptations, and even a ''battaglia di letto'', the act of love.^(TLIO) ''Battaglia navale'' is in Boccaccio between 1348 and 1353, and ''battaglia campale'', a pitched battle in the open field, before 1484 in Luigi Pulci.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries a ''battaglia'' was also a vocal or instrumental piece imitating the sounds of combat, and a painting of a battle scene.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DIFIT) The Fascist regime called its 1925 campaign to raise wheat production ''la battaglia del grano''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Common phrases are ''cavallo di battaglia'', one's best piece, ''nome di battaglia'', the alias of a partisan, and ''da battaglia'', for clothes and objects made for hard everyday use.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ English borrowed ''battalia'', an army in battle order, from Italian or Spanish in 1594, and German took ''Battaglia'' as a musical term in 1732.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 4th century – Charisius records Latin ''battualia''.^(LEI)

+ * 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''bataglia''.^(LEI)^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1264 – Medieval Latin ''batalia'' is recorded at Vicenza.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1276 – Guinizelli uses the word figuratively.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni writes ''battaglia''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses ''battaglia navale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses ''battaglia campale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1594 – English ''battalia'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1925 – The ''battaglia del grano'' is launched.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(military)'' A [[m|en|battle]], an armed clash between armies, fleets or air forces: ''La battaglia durò fino al tramonto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A [[m|en|struggle]] or contest between rival groups or ideas: ''una battaglia elettorale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A conflict of feelings within a person.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A determined campaign for a goal: ''la battaglia contro l'inquinamento''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(art)'' A painting of a battle scene.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(music, historical)'' A 16th- or 17th-century composition evoking the sounds of a battle.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DIFIT)

+ # ''(games)'' ''battaglia navale'', the game of battleships.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[battagliare]]

+ * [[battagliero]]

+ * [[battaglione]]

+ * [[battagliola]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[battere]]

+ * [[combattere]]

+ * [[fr|bataille]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ DEI lists a second ''battaglia'', a 20th-century name for machines used in silk spinning, from the surname of their inventor.^(DEI|461)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}