scarpa Italian · revision 38410

+ Italian has two nouns spelled ''scarpa'': the word for a shoe, of disputed origin, and a word for a slope or the sloping face of a wall, which DELI and GRADIT derive from Gothic.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)

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+ {{homograph|1|shoe}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 988, Salerno document|origins=gem-pro *skarpaz}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈskar.pa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scarpa''' ''f'' (plural scarpe)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old plural was ''scarpi''.^(GDLI|17, 863) The Old Italian forms are ''scarpa'', ''scarpe'' and ''scharpe''.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word for a shoe is of disputed origin.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI, GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti derive it from a Germanic [[m|gem-pro|*skarpa|t=leather pouch]], and Wiktionary gives the source as [[bor|got|*𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍂𐍀𐌰|tr=*skarpa]], from [[gem-pro|*skarpaz|t=sharp]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) DEI compares [[goh|scharpa]], and Meyer-Lübke set up a Germanic word for a shoe on the same basis.^(DEI|3376)^(REW 1935) Zaccaria thought the shoe was named after its pointed shape.^(Zaccaria 1901) Alessio, quoted by DELI, took it instead from [[fro|escharpe|t=pouch, purse]], from [[frk|*skerpa]].^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935)

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+ Joan Corominas and Arrigo Castellani proposed a Byzantine Greek origin, which Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and the TLIO prefer: [[grc|καρβατίνη|tr=karbatínē|t=shoe of rough leather]], in Hesychius also [[m|grc|καρπατίνη|tr=karpatínē]], from [[m|grc|καρβάτινος|tr=karbátinos|t=of leather]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(TLIO) Castellani thought the word named the footwear of the Byzantine army and came into Italy in the 6th century; adapted as ⟨scarpettina⟩ and taken for a diminutive, it was shortened to [[scarpetta]] and finally to “scarpa”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(TLIO) In support, Tuscan texts of the 13th and 14th centuries normally have “scarpetta”, not “scarpa”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) DELI objects that southern Italy has “scarpe” as early as the document of about 988, or at the latest the first half of the 12th century, while the first Tuscan record of the short form is in the 14th century.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is an inventory written on a Salerno document of about 988, which lists ''scarpe pari I'', one pair of shoes.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Scarpa is a surname in Calabria in 1183, and the Medieval Latin chronicle of Salimbene (1281–1288) uses the noun.^(DELI 1999) The TLIO's first Italian record is a Florentine document of 1288–1289.^(TLIO)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''non valere una scarpa'' meant “to be worth nothing”.^(TLIO) Fazio degli Uberti in the 14th century writes of a pilgrim coming to Provence “with the mule, the staff and stout shoes” (''col mulo, col bordone e scarpe grosse'').^(GDLI|17, 863) Derivatives followed early: ''scarpetta'' (1287), ''scarpone'' “heavy shoe” (end of the 13th century), ''scarpino'' (1547) and ''scarpinare'' “to walk a long way” (1536, Pietro Aretino).^(DELI 1999)

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+ In 1860 Giacinto Carena described the ''scarpa'' of a carriage, a curved iron shoe put under a rear wheel on steep descents, and the 1922 Zingarelli records the wedge put under the wheel of a vehicle parked on a slope.^(DELI 1999) The figurative sense “incompetent person” is recorded in 1959, and the underworld used the word for a pickpocket.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The phrase ''fare le scarpe a qualcuno'', “to undermine someone while pretending friendship”, has no settled explanation: DELI mentions the old slang ''farai la scarpa'' “you will cut a purse” and a soldiers' explanation from the First World War, while Nocentini compares ironic phrases such as Tuscan ''fare il vestitino''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 988 – ''Scarpe'' appears in an inventory on a Salerno document.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1183 – Scarpa is recorded as a surname in Calabria.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1281–1288 – Salimbene uses the word in Medieval Latin.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1287 – ''Scarpetta'' is recorded in Florence.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1288–1289 – The first Florentine record of ''scarpa''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1536 – Pietro Aretino uses ''scarpinare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1860 – Giacinto Carena describes the brake shoe of a carriage.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – ''Scarpiera'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – The sense “incompetent person” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|shoe]], a covering for the foot with a sole and an upper, usually reaching no higher than the ankle: ''Ho comprato un paio di scarpe di pelle.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In old armour, the piece of mail or iron plates that protected the foot.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(figurative, colloquial)'' An incompetent person, a [[m|en|duffer]]: ''A scacchi sono proprio una scarpa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(underworld slang)'' A [[m|en|pickpocket]].^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A curved iron shoe used to brake a carriage wheel; a wedge put under the wheel of a vehicle stopped on a slope.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scarpetta]]

+ * [[scarpone]]

+ * [[scarpino]]

+ * [[scarpinare]]

+ * [[scarpinata]]

+ * [[scarpiera]]

+ * [[scarpaio]]

+ * [[scarparo]]

+ * [[soprascarpa]]

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+ {{homograph|2|slope, scarp}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1465, Filarete|origins=got *𐍃𐌺𐍂𐌰𐍀𐌰}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈskar.pa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scarpa''' ''f'' (plural scarpe)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word for a slope is probably [[bor|got|*𐍃𐌺𐍂𐌰𐍀𐌰|tr=*skrapa|t=support, prop]], according to DELI, GRADIT and the GDLI.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|17, 864) Alessio objected that a Gothic origin is unlikely for a word recorded so late, and difficult in its sounds; he took it as a metaphorical use of the word for a shoe, a learned calque of [[la|crepido|alt=crepīdō|t=base, embankment]], from [[m|la|crepida|t=sandal]].^(DELI 1999) Nocentini also explains it as an extension of the word for a shoe, like that of [[zoccolo]], and compares [[grc|κρηπίς|tr=krēpís]], which meant both “shoe” and “base, embankment”.^(Nocentini 2010) Zaccaria related it to a Germanic adjective for “sharp”, like [[ofs|skerp]] and [[en|sharp]].^(Zaccaria 1901)

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+ The word passed as a term of fortification into [[fr|escarpe]] (1549, “contrescarpe” 1546) and [[es|escarpa]] (first half of the 17th century), and, from French into [[en|scarp]] (1589).^(Nocentini 2010)^(DIFIT)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Filarete's treatise on architecture, before 1465, for the slope of a wall: he wants the ditch to have “ten braccia of slope” at the bottom (''pigli in fondo braccia dieci di scarpa'').^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Leonardo da Vinci and Francesco Guicciardini used the word in fortification, for the sloping base of a wall built to strengthen it.^(Zaccaria 1901)^(GDLI|17, 864) Antonio Lupicini used it for the slope of an embankment in 1582.^(DELI 1999) The derivative [[scarpata]], an embankment beside a road, is recorded around 1847, and geography speaks of the ''scarpa continentale'' (1917–1927), later ''scarpata continentale'' (1959), the continental slope.^(DELI 1999) The word also names a support for the fixed cables of suspension bridges and cableways, and the inclined bed on a ship's deck where the anchor rests.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1465 – Filarete uses ''scarpa'' for the slope of a wall.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1546 – French ''contrescarpe'' is recorded, and ''escarpe'' follows in 1549.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1582 – Antonio Lupicini uses it for the slope of an embankment.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1589 – English ''scarpe'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * c. 1847 – ''Scarpata'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1917–1927 – ''Scarpa'' is used for the continental slope.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A natural [[m|en|slope]] steep enough to be stable without supporting works.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The sloping outer face of a structure, and the structure itself, ''muro a scarpa'', a battered wall.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)

+ # A support for fixed cables, as in suspension bridges and cableways.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(nautical)'' The inclined bed on the edge of the deck where the [[m|en|anchor]] lies when it is not let down.^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scarpata]]

+ * [[controscarpa]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ciabatta]]

+ * [[sandalo]]

+ * [[stivale]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common idioms are ''fare le scarpe a qualcuno'' “to undermine someone”, ''tenere il piede in due scarpe'' “to keep a foot in both camps”, ''morire con le scarpe ai piedi'' “to die a violent death” and ''non essere degno di legare le scarpe a qualcuno'' “to be far inferior to someone”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) DEI and Prati also record a ''scarpa'', a lake fish named by Francesco Redi, which is not the carp.^(DEI|3377)^(Prati 1951|884)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}