orecchio Italian · revision 38507

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 13th century, Novellino|origins=la auris}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /oˈrek.kjo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''orecchio''' ''m'' (plural (in the literal meaning) orecchie f or (figuratively) orecchi m)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include [[roa-oit|orechio]], [[roa-oit|oreglio]], [[roa-oit|orezo]] and [[roa-oit|urecchio]].^(GDLI) The feminine [[orecchia]] is the form of northern Italy, as in Old Milanese ''orege'' (before 1315) and Old Venetian ''oregla''.^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|3, 2384)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the masculine form of [[orecchia]], which is [[inh|la|ōricula]], a variant of [[m|la|auricula|t=little ear; outer ear]], the diminutive of [[m|la|auris|t=ear]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) In popular Latin the diminutive replaced the plain word: the “Appendix Probi” corrects “auris non oricla”, and the form with ⟨o⟩ is already found in Cicero, Pliny and Petronius, perhaps influenced by [[la|oculus|t=eye]].^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|3, 2384) The LEI compares the same replacement in Greek, where the Koine used the diminutive [[grc|ὠτίον|tr=ōtíon]] for [[grc|οὖς|tr=oûs]], and names the reasons scholars have offered: affective speech, the dropping of short words, the avoidance of homophones.^(LEI|3, 2384) The same word is [[fr|oreille]], [[oc|aurelha]], [[ca|orella]], [[es|oreja]], [[pt|orelha]], [[sc|origa]] and [[ro|ureche]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The masculine is Tuscan, also used in Umbria and Lazio; standard Italian took it from Florentine, while the rest of Italy, like the western Romance languages, has the feminine.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(DEI|2670) Rohlfs, quoted by DELI, explains it from the Old Italian plural “le orecchia”, like “le ginocchia”, from which a singular “orecchio” was made after the pattern of “ginocchia” : [[ginocchio]].^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Nocentini and Devoto–Oli see the analogy of [[occhio]], helped by the frequent pairing “occhi e orecchi”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ Latin “auris” comes from Proto-Indo-European [[m|ine-pro|*h₂ews-|alt=*h₂eu(-)s-|t=ear]], the source also of [[grc|οὖς|tr=oûs]], [[lt|ausis|alt=ausìs]], [[got|𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉|tr=auso]] and [[goh|ōra]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan notes that the stem may be related to the root of [[la|audiō|t=to hear]], and that the older form without rhotacism survives in [[m|la|auscultō|t=to listen]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record of ''orecchio'' is the ''Novellino'' (late 13th century), in the sense “outer ear”; the feminine ''orecchia'' is recorded in 1268, in the Italian translation of Albertanus of Brescia.^(DELI 1999) Dante uses both forms in the ''Commedia'', the feminine in rhyme.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante uses the word for the hearing itself and has ''aprire gli orecchi'' “to pay attention” (1300–1313); Boccaccio writes ''dare gli orecchi'' “to listen” (1341–1342), and ''dare orecchio'' is recorded in 1532.^(DELI 1999) The sense “ear for music” is recorded for ''orecchia'' before 1647 (Giovanni Battista Doni) and for ''orecchio'' in 1814;^(DELI 1999) ''cantare a orecchio'', to sing without reading music, is in Giuseppe Giusti (1835).^(DELI 1999) Manzoni's “Don Abbondio was deaf in that ear” (1840–1842) lies behind ''da quest'orecchio non ci sento'', “I won't hear of it”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The derivative ''orecchino'' “earring” appears in Lombard documents of 1469 and 1475 and in Sperone Speroni in 1561.^(DELI 1999) Many fixed phrases use the word: ''fare orecchie da mercante'' “to turn a deaf ear”, ''essere tutto orecchi'' “to be all ears”, ''mettere una pulce nell'orecchio'' “to sow a suspicion”, ''anche i muri hanno orecchi'' “the walls have ears”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1268 – The feminine ''orecchia'' is recorded in a translation of Albertanus of Brescia.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses ''orecchio'' for the outer ear.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for the sense of hearing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1341–1342 – Boccaccio writes ''dare gli orecchi'' “to listen”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1469 – ''Orecchino'' “earring” appears in a Lombard document.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1647 – Giovanni Battista Doni uses ''orecchia'' for a musical ear.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1814 – ''Orecchio'' is recorded in the sense “ear for music”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1835 – Giuseppe Giusti has ''cantare a orecchio''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(anatomy)'' The ear, each of the two organs of hearing and balance on the sides of the head, ''orecchio interno, medio, esterno'', the inner, middle and outer ear: ''Da piccolo soffriva spesso di mal d'orecchi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The outer ear, the [[m|en|auricle]]: ''Con quel vento gelido aveva le orecchie viola.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|hearing]]; the sense by which sounds reach a person: ''Da quando è caduto non sente più da un orecchio.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An [[m|en|ear]] for music, the ability to recognize and reproduce sounds: ''avere orecchio'', ''suonare a orecchio'', to play by ear.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something shaped like an ear, such as the turned-down corner of a page.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[orecchino]]

+ * [[orecchione]]

+ * [[orecchiuto]]

+ * [[orecchietta]]

+ * [[orecchiare]]

+ * [[orecchiabile]]

+ * [[orecchiante]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[orecchia]]

+ * [[otico]]

+ * [[auricolare]]

+ * [[ascoltare]]

+ * [[la|auris]]

+ * [[fr|oreille]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the literal sense the usual plural is the feminine ''le orecchie''; the masculine ''gli orecchi'' is used in anatomy and medicine and in some figurative phrases.^(Wiktionary)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The old plural ''le orecchia'' is obsolete.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}