sceriffo Italian · revision 38515

+ {{homograph|1|sheriff}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1498, report of the Venetian ambassadors (as serifo)|origins=ang scīrġerēfa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʃeˈrif.fo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sceriffo''' ''m'' (plural sceriffi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The sheriff is [[bor|en|sheriff]], from [[ang|scīrġerēfa]], a compound of [[m|ang|scīr|t=shire, county]] and [[m|ang|ġerēfa|t=reeve, magistrate]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI dates the English word to about 1034.^(DELI 1999) Zingarelli, Gabrielli and Treccani give a route through [[fr|chérif]], while DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT take the word directly from English;^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011)^(Prati 1951) Prati records [[m|fr|shériff]] from 1688.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word is first recorded as ''serifo'' in 1498, in a report of the Venetian ambassadors on England, which explains that London has its mayor, every town its own magistrate, and the shires their ''serifo''.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003) The form ''sceriffo'' appears in 1749, in the Italian translation of Chambers's ''Cyclopaedia''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Older texts also have ''scheriffo'', ''scerifo'' and ''seriffo''.^(GDLI) The American sense, the elected head of the police of a county, is recorded from 1905 in Panzini's dictionary of new words, and Westerns made it familiar.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In popular use a ''sceriffo'' is also a private security guard, and journalists call a mayor or official who enforces order with rough methods a ''sindaco sceriffo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1034 – The English word is recorded, in an Old English form.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1498 – ''Serifo'' appears in a Venetian ambassadors' report on England.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1749 – ''Sceriffo'' appears in the Italian Chambers.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1905 – Panzini records the American sense.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a [[m|en|sheriff]], a county officer with administrative and judicial duties, today largely honorary.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # In the United States, the elected head of the [[m|en|police]] of a county.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(popular)'' A private security [[m|en|guard]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Someone who takes it upon themselves to enforce the law, usually with harsh methods: ''un sindaco sceriffo''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ {{homograph|2|sharif}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1375 (as syriph)|origins=ar شريف}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʃeˈrif.fo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sceriffo''' ''m'' (plural sceriffi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The sharif is [[bor|ar|شريف|tr=šarīf|t=noble]], the title of the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same Arabic word gave [[fr|chérif]] (1552, Rabelais; [[m|fr|sérif]] 1528) and [[en|sherif]] (1599).^(DEI|3383)^(Prati 1951) The dialect plural “shurfa” was taken into Italian administrative language as “sciorfà”.^(DEI|3383)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini records the title as ''syriph'' in 1375 and as ''ciriffo'' about 1466.^(Nocentini 2010) GRADIT dates it to about 1300.^(GRADIT 2003) The form ''sceriffo'' is from 1553.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Reports on North Africa and Arabia used the forms ''serif'', ''seriffo'' and ''sceriffo'': Leo Africanus stayed three days in a city “with the serif prince”, and Venetian ambassadors wrote of the ''seriffo'' of Mecca and the ''sceriffo'' king of Fez.^(GDLI) The name also passed to a Muslim gold coin worth a little more than the Venetian sequin.^(GDLI) Today the word is a historical term for this religious nobility.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1375 – The title is recorded as ''syriph''.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * About 1466 – The form ''ciriffo'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1553 – The form ''sceriffo'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(historical)'' A [[m|en|sharif]], a descendant of Muhammad through Fatima and Ali, venerated and holding religious and political authority.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sceriffiano]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|sheriff]]

+ * [[en|shire]]

+ * [[en|reeve]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}