coltello Italian · revision 38514

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1233–1243, Matasalà di Spinello|origins=la culter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kolˈtɛl.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coltello''' ''m'' (plural coltelli, diminutive coltellìno or (rare) coltellétto, augmentative coltellóne, pejorative coltellàccio, derogatory coltellùccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian had the plurals ''coltegli'' and ''coltella'' (feminine) beside ''coltelli'', and the forms ''cortello'', ''cultello'' and ''coltiello''.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|cultellus|t=small knife]], the diminutive of [[m|la|culter|t=knife]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) When “culter” came to mean the blade of the plough and the plough itself (the source of [[coltro]]), the diminutive took over the sense “knife”.^(Nocentini 2010) The word is found in all the Romance languages except Romanian: [[fr|couteau]], [[oc|coltel]], [[ca|coltell]], [[es|cuchillo]], [[pt|cutelo]], [[vec|cortelo]] and Dalmatian [[m|dlm|kortial]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|1023) The forms with ⟨r⟩, such as [[roa-oit|cortello]] and Calabrian “curteddu”, go back to a dissimilated [[la-vul|*curtellus]]; a form [[m|la-vul|*cuntellus]] survives in Agnone, Romansh and Catalan.^(DEI|1023)^(REW 1935)

+

+ Two explanations are given for “culter”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini derives it from “*kertro-”, an instrument noun from [[ine-pro|*(s)ker-|t=to cut]], with the first ⟨r⟩ dissimilated to ⟨l⟩.^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan prefers [[ine-pro|*(s)kelH-|alt=*(s)kelh₂/₃-|t=to split, cleave]], with “*(s)kolh₂/₃-tro-” “instrument for cleaving”, since the dissimilation is an extra assumption.^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is from 1233–1243, in the Sienese Matasalà di Spinello, of a cutting tool with a steel blade fixed in a handle, sharp on one edge.^(DELI 1999) The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum''.^(TLIO) Brunetto Latini warns that if you have a knife, someone else has a good one too.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the ''coltello'' was both a tool and a weapon, a short dagger or sword: the TLIO records ''coltello da lato'', a dagger worn at the side, and Iacopone and Boccaccio use it of a blade drawn in a quarrel or used to kill.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Old phrases include ''leccare il coltello'' “to lick the knife”, to be extremely poor, and ''avere il miele in bocca e il coltello in mano'' “honey in the mouth and a knife in the hand”, of a false friend.^(TLIO)

+

+ Derivatives followed early: ''coltellino'' (1285–1286), ''coltellaccio'' (Medieval Latin ''cultellazum'' at Bologna, 1252), ''coltellata'', a knife wound (1302–1305), and ''accoltellare'' “to stab” (around 1300).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Coltellaccio'' also became the name of a light sail set beside the square sails (1729), and passed into French as ''coutelas''.^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935) The modern idioms are ''avere il coltello dalla parte del manico'' “to hold the knife by the handle”, to have the upper hand, and ''avere il coltello alla gola'' “to have the knife at one's throat”, to be in desperate straits; fog or tension “that can be cut with a knife” is very thick.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1233–1243 – Matasalà di Spinello uses ''coltello''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1252 – Medieval Latin ''cultellazum'' is recorded at Bologna.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1285–1286 – ''Coltellino'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1302–1305 – Giordano da Pisa uses ''coltellata''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 15th century – ''Coltellinaio'', a maker or seller of knives, appears in the carnival songs.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1729 – ''Coltellaccio'' is recorded as the name of a sail.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1880 – ''Coltelleria'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|knife]]: a tool with a sharp blade fixed in a handle, used for cutting or as a [[m|en|weapon]]: ''Passami il coltello per il pane.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A tool or device shaped like a knife or used for cutting: the [[m|en|coulter]] of a plough (''coltello dell'aratro''), the [[m|en|knife edge]] on which the beam of a balance rests (''coltello della bilancia'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Violence, armed fighting: ''lotta a coltello'' “a fight to the death”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[coltellino]]

+ * [[coltellaccio]]

+ * [[coltellata]]

+ * [[coltelleria]]

+ * [[coltellinaio]]

+ * [[coltella]]

+ * [[accoltellare]]

+ * [[accoltellamento]]

+ * [[coltelliera]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coltro]]

+ * [[cultro]]

+ * [[la|culter]]

+ * [[fr|couteau]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''A coltello'' describes bricks laid on edge in a wall.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Common combinations are ''coltello da cucina'', ''da tavola'' and ''a serramanico'' (kitchen knife, table knife, folding knife).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}