costa Italian · revision 38494

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1221, Siena document|origins=la costa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkɔs.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''costa''' ''f'' (plural coste)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|costa|t=rib; side, flank]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is common to the Romance languages: [[fr|côte]], [[ca|costa]], [[es|cuesta]], [[pt|costa]], [[sc|costa]], [[ro|coastă]], [[fur|kueste]] and [[dlm|kuasta]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Its figurative senses, “slope of a hill” and “coast”, are found across the Romance languages and are therefore thought to be older than them: a document of 944 already uses [[la-med|costa]] for a mountainside.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1133) Old Italian also used [[m|roa-oit|costa]] as an adverb and preposition, “beside”, like Old French [[m|fro|decoste]].^(DEI|1133)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) It has long been compared with [[cu|кость|tr=kostĭ|t=bone]], and Nocentini and Devoto derive both from a variant with ⟨k-⟩ of the Indo-European root of [[osso]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan rejects the link, because the Latin outcome of that root is [[m|la|os|t=bone]] and the Latin word means “rib”, not “bone”, and he regards [[m|la|costa]] as an isolated word without an etymology.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is a Sienese document of 1221, in the sense of land along the sea or a slope.^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “strip of land along the sea” to Mino da Colle (before 1287) and “rib” to Brunetto Latini (before 1294), who tells that woman was made from man's rib.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante has ''costa'' for the flank of the body, as in “he neither moved his neck nor bent his side” (''né mosse collo, né piegò sua costa''), for the side of a thing and for the ribs of a ship.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Boccaccio describes the coast near Salerno that people call ''la Costa d'Amalfi''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Later senses include the spine of a book (Cellini, before 1571), the ridge between furrows (Soderini, before 1597) and the midrib of a leaf (1809).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In the anatomical sense the diminutive ''costola'' (14th century) has become the usual word.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Derivatives include ''costato'' (early 13th century), ''costeggiare'' (before 1348), ''costiera'' (c. 1350) and ''costata'' (1892).^(DELI 1999) Modern ''costa'' is the coast and a mountain slope (''a mezza costa'', halfway up), the stalk of celery or chard (''coste'', chard), a rib in knitting or in cordured velvet (''velluto a coste''), and in Rome a cut of meat.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) French ''côtelette'', from the same Latin word, came back into Italian as [[cotoletta]].^(REW 1935)^(DELI 1999) German borrowed ''Costa'' in 1515.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 944 – Medieval Latin ''costa de monte'' is recorded.^(DEI|1133)

+ * 1221 – A Sienese document has ''costa''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1287 – Mino da Colle uses it for the coast.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a rib.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the flank, a ship's rib and the side of a thing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – ''Costeggiare'' is recorded in Giovanni Villani.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1515 – German ''Costa'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1571 – Cellini uses it for the spine of a book.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1809 – It is recorded for the midrib of a leaf.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|coast]], the strip of land where it meets the sea; also the region along the sea: ''D'estate andiamo sempre sulla costa ligure.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # The side of a mountain or hill, a [[m|en|slope]]: ''Il paese sorge a mezza costa.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' [[m|en|rib]]; the usual word is ''costola''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' Side, [[m|en|flank]], of the body or of a thing.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The back of a blade, opposite the edge; the [[m|en|spine]] of a book.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(botany)'' The midrib of a leaf; the edible stalk of some vegetables, such as celery, ''(in the plural)'' [[m|en|chard]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A raised rib in a fabric or in knitting: ''velluto a coste''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(nautical)'' Each of the curved members that rise from the keel and carry the planking of a hull.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(Rome)'' A cut of meat from the back of a slaughtered animal.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[costeggiare]]

+ * [[costiera]]

+ * [[costiero]]

+ * [[costata]]

+ * [[costina]]

+ * [[costone]]

+ * [[accostare]]

+ * [[scostare]]

+ * [[discostare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[costato]]

+ * [[costola]]

+ * [[cotoletta]]

+ * [[costale]]

+ * [[la|costa]]

+ * [[fr|côte]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Costa'' is also the third person singular present of [[costare]].^(Wikizionario) ''Velluto a coste'' (corduroy) and ''a mezza costa'' (halfway up a slope) are set phrases.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}