occhiata Italian · revision 38471

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1427|origins=la oculus}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /okˈkja.ta/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''occhiata''' ''f'' (plural occhiate)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|occhio|-ata]], with the suffix of nouns for a single action or blow.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary also allows [[la-vul|*oculāta]] as the source, from [[la|oculus|t=eye]].^(Wiktionary)

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+ The same formation is found across the Romance languages: [[fr|œillade]], [[ca|ullada]], [[es|ojeada]] and [[pt|olhada]], all meaning “glance”.^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) The Latin noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*okʷelos]], from the root [[ine-pro|*h₃ekʷ-|t=to see; eye]], which also gave [[lt|akis]] and [[grc|ὄσσε|tr=ósse|t=the two eyes]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to 1427.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The GDLI's earliest quotations are from the sermons of Bernardino da Siena, who describes men and women in church exchanging glances (''l’occhiate vanno a torno''), and, from the Venetian poet Leonardo Giustinian, who asks his lady for ''qualche ochiata''.^(GDLI|11, 758) The sense is “a quick look”.^(GDLI|11, 758)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start the word named a look that was quick, often furtive or meaningful, and the phrases ''dare'' and ''gettare un’occhiata'' were soon fixed: Leonardo advises the painter who must draw a face from memory to give it one look and note its features in a little book.^(GDLI|11, 758) A Tuscan proverb in Tommaseo's dictionary says that a look says more than a sermon (''dice più un’occhiata che una predica'').^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ From the glance came the quick reading of a text and the brief check on something or someone, as in ''dare un’occhiata'' to a pot on the stove or to children.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The older sense “sight, view” has fallen out of use.^(Zingarelli 2010) Pejorative and diminutive forms are ''occhiataccia'', a hostile look, and ''occhiatina''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1427 – ''Occhiata'' is first recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1519 – Leonardo advises giving ''una occhiata'' to a face to be drawn from memory.^(GDLI|11, 758)

+ * 1823 – The fish called ''occhiata'' is recorded.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A quick [[m|en|glance]], often intense or meaningful: ''Bastò un’occhiata tra i due fratelli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A quick reading or look over something, a brief [[m|en|check]]: ''Puoi dare un’occhiata a questa lettera?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A short survey or examination of a question.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Watch, supervision for a short time: ''Dai un’occhiata al cane mentre esco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[occhiataccia]]

+ * [[occhiatina]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[occhio]]

+ * [[adocchiare]]

+ * [[fr|œillade]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Dare un’occhiata'' (to take a look, to keep an eye on) and ''gettare'' or ''lanciare un’occhiata'' (to cast a glance) are the usual phrases.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ A separate word ''occhiata'' is the name of a Mediterranean sea bream, ''Oblada melanura'', recorded from 1823; it continues [[la|oculāta]] “having eyes”, from the fish's large eyes.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(OLD 2012) DEI says the name is common in Italian ports (Palermitan ''ugghiata'', Venetian ''ociada'') and passed through Genoese into Provençal ''oublado'', and thence into French ''oblade'' and Spanish ''oblada''.^(DEI|2622)^(REW 1935) In Pulci and older texts the word named a kind of ray.^(Prati 1951|706)^(GDLI|11, 759)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}