coppia Italian · revision 38311

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1260–1266, Brunetto Latini|origins=la apiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkɔp.pja/, /ˈkop.pja/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coppia''' ''f'' (plural coppie)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old spellings include [[roa-oit|chopia]], [[roa-oit|choppia]] and [[roa-oit|cobia]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|cōpula|t=a band, a leash]], [[inh|la-vul|*cōpla]], with the middle vowel lost.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The short form is attested in Latin as the accusative [[m|la|cōpla|alt=coplam]] in a papyrus.^(OLD 2012) The Latin noun is contracted from [[m|la|*coapula]], from [[m|la|com-|t=together]], [[m|la|apiō|t=to fasten]] and the suffix [[m|la|-ula]].^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) Nocentini explains it as the leash used to lead animals in pairs.^(Nocentini 2010) The Latin verb is compared with [[sa|आप्नोति|tr=āpnoti|t=reaches, obtains]] and [[hit|epmi|t=I take]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The same word is [[fr|couple]], [[oc|cobla]] and [[ca|cobla]], the last two meaning a stanza, that is a pair of verses.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) A variant [[la-vul|*cloppa]] gave [[vec|copa|t=pair]] and [[sc|goba|t=pair]], and in central and southern Italy forms meaning “twins”.^(REW 1935) Learned [[copula]] is a doublet borrowed from the same Latin word.^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Brunetto Latini's ''Favolello'', written in Florence in 1260–1266.^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “two things of the same kind taken together” to Giordano da Pisa (1303–1306), and the sense “a man and a woman joined by marriage or love” to the early 14th-century Italian ''Milione'' of Marco Polo.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian also used ''coppia'' as a unit in trade, for two animals or two pieces of the same thing, for cloth and hides, and for fruit, and loosely for “a certain number”.^(TLIO) Boccaccio writes that there was “no such couple under the stars” as the marquis and his lady.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Technical senses came in the modern period: the couple of forces in physics in 1865, a pair of athletes in 1964, two cards of the same value in 1965 and a pair of mechanical parts in 1973.^(DELI 1999) In engineering it also means torque.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010) Recent phrases include ''coppia di fatto'', an unmarried couple living together, and ''coppia aperta'', recorded in 1984.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1260–1266 – Brunetto Latini uses ''coppia'' in the ''Favolello''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1303–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for two things taken together.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Early 14th century – The Italian ''Milione'' uses it for a man and a woman joined in marriage.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1865 – Tommaseo–Bellini record the couple of forces.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1964 – Battaglia records the sense “two athletes competing together”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1984 – ''Coppia aperta'' is recorded in ''La Repubblica''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pair]], two things, animals or people of the same kind taken together or acting together: ''una coppia di colombi'', ''in coppia'', ''a coppie'', two by two.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|couple]], two people joined by love or marriage: ''Sono una coppia molto affiatata.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(sports)'' Two athletes who compete together.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(card games)'' Two cards of the same value: ''una coppia di sette''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A set of two elements, ''coppia ordinata'', an ordered pair.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(physics, mechanics)'' A couple of forces, and [[m|en|torque]]; also two mechanical parts in contact, such as a screw and nut.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[accoppiare]]

+ * [[accoppiamento]]

+ * [[accoppiata]]

+ * [[coppietta]]

+ * [[coppiola]]

+ * [[scoppiare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[copula]]

+ * [[fr|couple]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Fare coppia fissa'' is said of two people who are always seen together.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}