uccello Italian · revision 38321

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=ine-pro *h₂éwis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /utˈt͡ʃɛl.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''uccello''' ''m'' (plural uccelli)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|ucello]], [[roa-oit|uciello]], [[roa-oit|ugello]] and [[roa-oit|auscello]], and northern [[roa-oit|osello]], [[roa-oit|oxelo]] and [[roa-oit|olcello]].^(LEI|3, 2162)^(GDLI)^(Prati 1951|1025) The Venetian form is [[m|vec|osèlo]].^(Prati 1951|1025) An old feminine ''uccella'' is also recorded.^(DEI|3941)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|aucellus|t=little bird]], a word of the glossaries, formed as a masculine beside the older [[m|la|aucella]], which Varro already has; the feminine is a contraction of [[m|la|avicella]], a diminutive of [[m|la|avicula]], itself a diminutive of [[m|la|avis|t=bird]].^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3941)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The LEI suggests that the masculine may have been formed on the model of [[m|la|passer|t=sparrow]].^(LEI|3, 2162) The double /tʃ/ and the reduction of the first syllable to ⟨u-⟩ are discussed by Devoto.^(Devoto 1968) The poetic doublet [[augello]] has its /dʒ/ from [[pro|auzel]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The same diminutive gave [[fr|oiseau]], [[oc|auzel]], [[ca|ocell]], [[fur|ucièl]] and [[rm|utschi]], while [[es|ave]] and [[pt|ave]] keep the simple Latin word, and Spanish uses [[m|es|pájaro]], from [[m|la|passer]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|3, 2162)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ Latin ⟨avis⟩ goes back to [[itc-pro|*awis]] and [[ine-pro|*h₂éwis|t=bird]], with cognates in [[sa|वि|tr=ví|t=bird]], [[grc|αἰετός|tr=aietós|t=eagle]] and [[xcl|հաւ|tr=haw|t=bird]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010) Italian [[uovo]] “egg” may belong to the same root.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The LEI's earliest record is Bono Giamboni's ''Della miseria dell'uomo'' (1292), and DELI's is Dante's ''Vita nuova'' (1293–1294), with the general sense “bird”.^(LEI|3, 2162)^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) DEI cites Rustico Filippi, of the 13th century, for the form ''ucello''.^(DEI|3941)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Like many writers of the 13th and 14th centuries, Dante used both ''uccello'' and the Occitan-tinged ''augello''.^(DELI 1999) The derivatives ''uccellare'' “to catch birds” and ''uccellatore'' “bird-catcher” appear in the 13th century, and, from Boccaccio on ''uccellare'' also meant “to make a fool of someone”, the image being taken from the tricks used to snare birds.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The sense “penis” is in Pietro Aretino in 1536, and already in a 14th-century medical text;^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3941) DELI thinks it most likely came from nursery language, and DEI notes the derived sense “simpleton”.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3941) Many set phrases are built on the word: ''uccel di bosco'' “someone who has fled, a fugitive”, ''uccello del malaugurio'' “bird of ill omen; a doom-monger”, and ''a volo d'uccello'' “from above; summarily”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) ''Uccello lira'' translates the Australian English ''lyrebird''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Rustico Filippi has the form ''ucello''.^(DEI|3941)

+ * 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''uccello''.^(LEI|3, 2162)

+ * Before 1294 – ''Uccelletto'' and ''uccellatore'' are recorded in Brunetto Latini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante uses the word in the ''Vita nuova''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1313–1319 – Dante has ''uccellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1536 – Pietro Aretino uses it for “penis”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1574 – ''Uccelliera'' “aviary” is recorded in Vasari.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|bird]]: a feathered animal with wings, usually able to fly, and a horny beak: ''Sul davanzale si posano ogni mattina due uccelli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(zoology, in the plural, capitalised)'' ''Uccelli'', the class Aves of vertebrates.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' The [[m|en|penis]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(dated)'' A simpleton, a fool.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[uccellino]]

+ * [[uccelletto]]

+ * [[uccellaccio]]

+ * [[uccellare]]

+ * [[uccellatore]]

+ * [[uccellagione]]

+ * [[uccelliera]]

+ * [[uccellaio]]

+ * [[uccellanda]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[augello]]

+ * [[uovo]]

+ * [[aviazione]]

+ * [[la|avis]]

+ * [[fr|oiseau]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Essere libero come un uccello'' means to have no ties, and ''stare come l'uccello sulla frasca'' to be always ready to leave.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020) The proverb ''meglio uccel di bosco che uccel di gabbia'' says that freedom is better than captivity.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}