caccia Italian · revision 38329

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=la capiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkat.t͡ʃa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''caccia''' ''f'' (plural cacce)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|caça]], [[roa-oit|caza]], [[roa-oit|chaça]] and [[roa-oit|cacia]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a noun formed from the verb [[cacciare]] without a suffix ([[af|it|cacciare|-a]]).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(TLIO)^(Wiktionary) The verb continues [[la-vul|*captiō|alt=*captiāre|t=to try to catch]], an intensive of [[la|capiō|t=to take]] that took the place of the classical [[m|la|captō]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The LEI notes that the Latin verb is not recorded but must have existed, since the whole Romance area continues it, and that its sense “drive away”, the opposite of “catch”, probably arose after Romanian had separated in the 3rd century.^(LEI)

+

+ The same verb is [[ro|acăța|t=to grab]], [[fur|çhaçâ]], [[fro|chacier]], [[pro|cazar]], [[ca|caçar]], [[es|cazar]] and [[pt|caçar]], and the noun is [[fr|chasse]], [[es|caza]] and [[pt|caça]].^(LEI)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) The English words [[m|en|chase]] and [[m|en|catch]] are related.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, for the search for, lying in wait for and capture of wild animals.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The TLIO's first example is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur''.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before 1292 Bono Giamboni used the word for the pursuit of people.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian also used it for an army's pursuit of a fleeing enemy, with phrases such as ''dare la caccia a qualcuno'' “to give chase to someone”, and for the game taken, the hunting party with its animals and gear, and a hunt as an organised event.^(TLIO) Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' speaks of a nobleman who took “very great delight” in hunting (''grandissimo diletto prendea nelle caccie'').^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Around 1400 Sercambi used ''caccia'' for a poetic and musical form of the 14th and 15th centuries for several voices, with a text that described a hunt.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In the Middle Ages the word also named a canon.^(GRADIT 2003) German borrowed the musical term in 1879.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ''Caccia del toro'' for a bullfight gave way at the end of the 19th century to [[corrida]].^(DELI 1999) ''Caccia alle streghe'' “witch-hunt”, for ideological persecution, is a calque of English ''witch hunt'', a term of the McCarthy years, and is recorded in Italian in 1963.^(DELI 1999) The masculine ''caccia'' is short for ''aereo da caccia'' “fighter plane” (1917, Marinetti) and, from 1918, for [[cacciatorpediniere]] “destroyer”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''caccia'' for hunting.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for the pursuit of people.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1400 – Sercambi uses it for a musical form describing a hunt.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1879 – German ''Caccia'' (music) is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1917 – Marinetti uses masculine ''caccia'' for a fighter plane.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1918 – ''Caccia'' “destroyer” appears in Panzini's dictionary.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1963 – ''Caccia alle streghe'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|hunting]], the hunt: the search for and capture or killing of wild animals, by people or by other animals: ''Ogni autunno va a caccia di lepri con il suo cane.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Hunting as regulated by law, with its seasons and licences: ''Domenica si apre la caccia al fagiano.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The game killed, [[cacciagione]]: ''Per la cena di Natale hanno servito caccia.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' The place where hunting is done, or the hunters as a group.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A [[m|en|pursuit]], a determined search for someone: ''I carabinieri danno la caccia ai rapinatori.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' An eager search for something: ''È sempre a caccia di complimenti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(military)'' The pursuit and attack of enemy aircraft or ships by aircraft or ships.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A game in which something has to be found, as in ''caccia al tesoro'', a treasure hunt.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literature, music)'' A poem of the 14th and 15th centuries, usually set to music, describing scenes of hunting.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(masculine, invariable; aviation)'' A [[m|en|fighter]] plane.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(masculine, invariable; navy)'' A [[m|en|destroyer]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[anticaccia]]

+ * [[cacciarella]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cacciare]]

+ * [[cacciatore]]

+ * [[cacciagione]]

+ * [[cacciatorpediniere]]

+ * [[scacciare]]

+ * [[la|capiō]]

+ * [[fr|chasse]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''andare a caccia'' (to go hunting), ''dare la caccia a'' (to hunt down, chase), ''caccia grossa'' (big-game hunting), ''caccia all'uomo'' (manhunt) and ''caccia alle streghe'' (witch-hunt).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) The plural of the feminine noun is ''cacce''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) An old and dialect noun ''caccia'' “ladle”, related to ''cazza'', has an entry of its own in the GDLI.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}