pesce Italian · revision 38281

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1231–1250, Cielo d'Alcamo|origins=ine-pro *pisk-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpeʃ.ʃe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pesce''' ''m'' (plural pesci, diminutive pescétto or (more common) pesciolìno or (uncommon) pesciatèllo, augmentative (slightly augmentative) pesciòtto; pescióne, pejorative pesciàccio, derogatory (uncommon) pesciùccio, diminutive-derogatory (literary) pesciàtto or pesciàttolo)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|pescie]], [[roa-oit|pescio]], northern [[roa-oit|pesse]] and [[roa-oit|pexe]], and southern [[roa-oit|pisci]].^(TLIO) The popular Tuscan ⟨péscio⟩ is recorded in Giordano da Pisa and Buti.^(Prati 1951|764)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|piscis|alt=pĭscis|t=fish]], continued from the accusative ⟨piscem⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is panromance: [[fr|poisson]], [[oc|peis]], [[ca|peix]], [[es|pez]], [[pt|peixe]], [[sc|pische]] and [[ro|pește]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI)^(Körting 1907) The French word is a diminutive, and the simple form survives only in compounds such as [[fro|craspois]], literally “fat fish”, a name for the whale.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*piskis]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its only close relatives are in Germanic and Celtic: [[goh|fisc]], hence [[de|Fisch]] and [[en|fish]], [[got|𐍆𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃|tr=fisks]], and [[sga|íasc]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968) De Vaan reconstructs [[ine-pro|*pisk-|t=fish]] and notes that the vowel of the Celtic form, from [[m|ine-pro|*peisk-]], is hard to reconcile with it.^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini mentions the possibility that the word is a derivative of the root [[m|ine-pro|*ap-|t=water]] with zero grade, meaning “the aquatic one”.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the form ''pescie'' in the ''contrasto'' of Cielo d'Alcamo (1231–1250), for the backboned water animal with fins, gills and usually scales.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The TLIO's first quotation is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur''.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the word in figures of speech: ''pesce grosso'' for a person of high rank, ''più sano che pesce'' for someone in perfect health, ''prendere come il pesce all'amo'' for seducing or deceiving someone, and ''nuovo pesce'' for an odd or naive person.^(TLIO) In the 13th century Ristoro d'Arezzo used the plural for the last sign of the zodiac, Pisces.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) The TLIO also records ''pesce del braccio'', the biceps, a sense that popular speech keeps.^(TLIO)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ Many names of species are compounds with ''pesce'': ''pesce spada'' (swordfish) appears at the end of the 13th century, ''pesce gatto'', ''pesce martello'' and ''pesce sega'' in 1554, ''pesce luna'' in 1628, ''pesce palla'' in 1652, ''pesce rosso'' (goldfish) in 1792 and ''pesce pilota'' in 1836.^(Nocentini 2010) The compound ''pescecane'' (shark) is recorded in 1476 in Cristoforo Landino.^(DELI 1999) Its figurative sense, a war profiteer, was made popular by Dario Niccodemi's comedy ''I pescicani'', first staged in Milan in 1913.^(DELI 1999) The origin of ''pesce d'aprile'' (April fool) has not been explained convincingly.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In printing the word has meant, since 1803, an omission made by the compositor, the opposite of a doubled passage.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In vulgar slang it also means the penis.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1231–1250 – Cielo d'Alcamo uses the form ''pescie''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th century – Ristoro d'Arezzo uses the plural for the zodiac sign Pisces.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – ''Pesce spada'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1476 – Cristoforo Landino uses ''pescecane''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1554 – ''Pesce gatto'', ''pesce martello'' and ''pesce sega'' are first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1792 – ''Pesce rosso'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1803 – D'Alberti records the printing sense, an omission in typesetting.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1913 – Niccodemi's comedy ''I pescicani'' spreads the sense “war profiteer”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|fish]]: an animal with a backbone that lives in water, breathes through [[m|en|gill|alt=gills]] and swims with fins: ''Nello stagno nuotavano pesci di ogni colore.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Fish as food, raw or cooked (usually singular): ''Il venerdì a casa nostra si mangia pesce.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A naive, gullible person.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''Pesci'' (plural, capitalised): [[m|en|Pisces]], the last sign of the [[m|en|zodiac]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(printing)'' An omission of a word or line made in typesetting.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(popular)'' The [[m|en|biceps]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(vulgar, slang)'' The penis.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pescaggio]]

+ * [[pescaia]]

+ * [[pescare]]

+ * [[pescata]]

+ * [[pescatore]]

+ * [[pescecane]]

+ * [[peschereccio]]

+ * [[pescheria]]

+ * [[peschiera]]

+ * [[pesciaiola]]

+ * [[pesciaiolo]]

+ * [[pesciera]]

+ * [[pesciolino]]

+ * [[pescivendolo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pescetto]]

+ * [[pescoso]]

+ * [[piscina]]

+ * [[la|piscis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Many set phrases use the word: ''muto come un pesce'' (silent as a fish), ''sano come un pesce'' (in excellent health), ''sentirsi come un pesce fuor d'acqua'' (to feel out of place), ''non sapere che pesci prendere'' (not to know what to do), ''né carne né pesce'' (neither one thing nor the other) and ''fare il pesce in barile'' (to play dumb so as not to take sides).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The GDLI records a separate old and regional ''pesce'' meaning the Norway spruce, a variant of ''peccio''.^(GDLI|13, 164)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}