cerchio Italian · revision 38267

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur (Venetian)|origins=la circus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈt͡ʃer.kjo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cerchio''' ''m'' (plural cerchi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|cierchio]], [[roa-oit|cerclo]] and [[roa-oit|zerchio]].^(TLIO) An old plural ''le cerchia'' gave the feminine noun [[cerchia]].^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|circulus|t=circle, ring]], through a spoken form [[la-vul|*circlus]] that lost its inner vowel.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(LEI|14, 619) The learned doublet of the same Latin word is [[circolo]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(LEI|14, 619) The noun continues in every Romance language, as [[fr|cercle]], [[oc|cercle]] and [[ca|cercle]].^(LEI|14, 619)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Italian dialects have forms with and without the vowel loss, and in the south it assimilated, as in Neapolitan and Sicilian.^(LEI|14, 619)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin noun is a diminutive of [[m|la|circus|t=ring, circle]], which also gave [[circo]] and archaic [[roa-oit|cerco]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Nocentini takes that word from [[grc|κίρκος|tr=kírkos|t=ring]], a metathesis of [[m|grc|κρίκος|tr=kríkos]], from the root of [[m|la|curvus|t=curved]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI) GDLI only compares the Greek words.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', from the last quarter of the 12th century.^(TLIO) GRADIT dates the word about 1274, and DELI's first record, in the sense “circumference”, is in the ''Mare amoroso'' at the end of the 13th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used ''cerchio'' for a ring of people, an orbit, a halo of light, a period of time and the edge of a round vessel.^(TLIO) The band that holds the staves of a barrel together is recorded before 1306 in Jacopone da Todi.^(DELI 1999) Dante's Hell is divided into ''cerchi'', and Petrarch passes ''di cerchio in cerchio'' through the heavenly spheres.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ Later senses are the large hoop of gymnasts and circus acrobats (1843) and the children's hoop driven with a stick (1889, D'Annunzio).^(DELI 1999) The idiom ''dare un colpo al cerchio e uno alla botte'' comes from the cooper's work, who strikes in turn the hoop and the staves; figuratively it means to keep in with both sides.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) From it Italian has made ''cerchiobottismo'' and ''cerchiobottista''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Cerchio'' appears in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur''.^(TLIO)

+ * c. 1274 – GRADIT's date for the word.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Mare amoroso'' uses it for a circumference.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses it for a barrel hoop.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1304–1307 – Dante uses it for the geometric figure in the ''Convivio''.^(LEI|14, 619)

+ * 1843 – The gymnast's hoop is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1889 – D'Annunzio writes of the children's hoop.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(geometry)'' A [[m|en|circle]], the part of a plane bounded by a [[m|en|circumference]], and also the circumference itself: ''Disegna un cerchio con il compasso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A round object, especially a piece of jewellery such as a ring, bracelet or earring.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A [[m|en|hoop]] of metal or wood that binds the staves of a barrel or strengthens a cylindrical object.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A hoop used as a toy or as an apparatus in women's gymnastics: ''giocare col cerchio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A hoop once worn to hold a skirt out wide.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Anything that surrounds something else, or people or things arranged in a ring: ''Un cerchio di bambini si formò attorno al mago.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The [[m|en|rim]] of a wheel: ''cerchi in lega''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' A heavenly sphere, and in Dante's ''Commedia'' each of the circles of [[m|en|Hell|alt=Hell]].^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cerchia]]

+ * [[cerchiare]]

+ * [[cerchiato]]

+ * [[cerchiatura]]

+ * [[cerchietto]]

+ * [[cerchione]]

+ * [[cerchiaggio]]

+ * [[accerchiare]]

+ * [[accerchiamento]]

+ * [[semicerchio]]

+ * [[cerchiello]]

+ * [[cerchiobottismo]]

+ * [[cerchiobottista]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[circo]]

+ * [[circolo]]

+ * [[mezzocerchio]]

+ * [[la|circulus]]

+ * [[fr|cercle]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Set phrases include ''in cerchio'' (in a ring), ''la quadratura del cerchio'' (squaring the circle, a problem with no solution), ''avere un cerchio alla testa'' (to have a headache) and ''dare un colpo al cerchio e uno alla botte''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}