carne Italian · revision 38309

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=last quarter of the 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=ine-pro *(s)ker-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkar.ne/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''carne''' ''f'' (plural carni, pejorative carnàccia)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|caro|alt=carō|t=flesh, meat]], continued in the form of its accusative “carnem”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word survives in every Romance language: [[fr|chair]], [[oc|carn]], [[ca|carn]], [[es|carne]], [[pt|carne]], [[sc|carre]] and [[ro|carne]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|12, 242) In French it gave way to [[m|fr|viande]] as the name of meat as food, and in Sardinian to “pètta”.^(LEI|12, 242)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|773) DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance feminine noun with both senses, the flesh of the body and meat as food.^(DÉRom)

+

+ The Latin noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*karō]], and its nearest relative is [[xum|karu|t=part, portion]].^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|773) Both are traced to the root [[ine-pro|*(s)ker-|t=to cut]], also found in [[grc|κείρω|tr=keírō|t=to cut, shear]] and [[goh|skeran|t=to cut, shear]], so that “carō” first meant a portion cut off.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968|82)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini links this to the cutting of sacrificial meat, which was shared out among those present by rank.^(Nocentini 2010) The Italian Wiktionary prefers a link with [[ine-pro|*kréwh₂s|t=raw flesh, blood]], the source of [[grc|κρέας|tr=kréas|t=meat]].^(Wikizionario)

+

+ The phrase “carne da cannone” “cannon fodder” is a calque of [[fr|chair à canon]].^(DELI 1999) [[carnevale|alt=Carnevale]] grew out of a medieval phrase meaning “to take away meat”, recorded as “carnelevare” at Subiaco in 965.^(LEI|12, 242)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum'' of the last quarter of the 12th century, and the first sense it gives is the muscular part of the human and animal body.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) A Florentine account book of 1264 has ''charne'', and DELI's first literary record of the sense “flesh of the body” is the 13th-century poet Inghilfredi.^(LEI|12, 242)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before 1294 Guittone d'Arezzo used ''carne'' for the human being as a body, the sense that runs through the religious language of the flesh against the spirit, and of the Incarnation.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) The ''Proverbia'' already have the meat of slaughtered animals as food.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian had a wide range of set phrases: ''carne viva'' for flesh laid bare by a wound, ''essere come carne e unghia'' “to be as close as flesh and nail”, and ''in carne e ossa'' “in person”.^(TLIO) In Dante's ''Purgatorio'' the souls are told that the poet's body “è vera carne” (“is true flesh”).^(GDLI|2, 779)

+

+ The word also spread to the pulp of fruit (Pietro de' Crescenzi) and, in Dante, to lust.^(Prati 1951|242)^(GRADIT 2003) In the plural ''carni'' means the skin and complexion, as in ''carni sode'' “firm flesh”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Used as an invariable adjective it names a pale pink colour, ''color carne''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ French borrowed the word in slang as ''carne'' (1835), “bad meat”, later also a worthless person and a broken-down horse, though French dictionaries prefer a Norman source.^(DIFIT)^(DEI|773)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Last quarter of the 12th century – The Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' use ''carne''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1264 – ''Charne'' appears in a Florentine account book.^(LEI|12, 242)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 13th century – Inghilfredi uses the word for the flesh of the body, and the ''Proverbia'' for meat as food.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for the human being as a body.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1835 – French slang borrows ''carne''.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|flesh]]: the soft tissue of the human and animal body, mostly [[m|en|muscle]]: ''La spina gli era entrata nella carne del dito.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(plural)'' The skin and [[m|en|complexion]] of the body: ''carni bianche e morbide''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|meat]], the edible part of animals, especially those slaughtered for food: ''Stasera non mangio carne, prendo il pesce.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The body and the material side of human nature, as against the [[m|en|spirit]]: ''la resurrezione della carne''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Sexual desire, [[m|en|sensuality]]: ''i piaceri della carne''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The [[m|en|pulp]] of a fruit.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(invariable, after a noun)'' Flesh-coloured, pale pink: ''un maglione color carne''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[carnagione]]

+ * [[carnale]]

+ * [[carnalità]]

+ * [[carnaio]]

+ * [[carnefice]]

+ * [[carneficina]]

+ * [[carnivoro]]

+ * [[carnoso]]

+ * [[carniere]]

+ * [[carnesecca]]

+ * [[carnicino]]

+ * [[carnevale]]

+ * [[incarnare]]

+ * [[incarnazione]]

+ * [[scarno]]

+ * [[scarnire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|caro]]

+ * [[fr|chair]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common set phrases are ''in carne e ossa'' “in person”, ''essere bene in carne'' “to be well fed, plump”, ''carne da cannone'' or ''carne da macello'' for soldiers sent to die, and ''carne della propria carne'' for one's own children.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The proverbial ''lo spirito è forte, ma la carne è debole'' goes back to the Gospels.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}