calcio Italian · revision 38541

+ Italian has two words spelled ''calcio'', both from Latin ''calx'': the kick, together with the butt of a gun, from ''calx'' “heel”, and the chemical element, from ''calx'' “lime”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) DELI gives the butt of a gun a heading of its own and numbers the element 3;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini puts the kick and the butt under one word and numbers the element 2.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ {{homograph|1|kick; football; butt of a gun}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=1264, Fiori di filosafi|origins=la calx}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkal.t͡ʃo/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''calcio''' ''m'' (plural calci)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The kick is [[inh|la|calx|t=heel]], from the stem “calc-”.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003) The LEI takes “calcio” as a form of the Latin word moved into the “-o” declension, beside [[calce]] “heel” in Old Umbrian and Marchigian.^(LEI|9, 1540) Nocentini treats it as an Italian derivative of “calce” in the sense “heel”, while DEI, GDLI and Devoto–Oli derive the kick from the verb [[calciare|t=to kick]], or from the plural “calci”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|674)^(GDLI)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The Latin word survives in [[sc|calche|t=kick]], [[es|coz|t=kick]] and [[pt|couce|t=kick; heel]], while elsewhere it was replaced by [[la-lat|calcaneum]].^(DEI|674)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

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+ The origin of Latin “calx” “heel” is unclear: de Vaan finds a link with Baltic and Slavic words for parts of the leg, such as [[lt|kulkšnis|t=ankle]], doubtful at best, and an Etruscan origin has been proposed without a concrete source.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the sense “heel” ''calcio'' is recorded at Florence in the ''Fiori di filosafi'' (1264); the TLIO's first “kick” is in the ''Novellino'', a Florentine work of the late 13th century, and DELI's in Jacopone da Todi (before 1306).^(LEI|9, 1540)^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante praises “the kicks that Heliodorus got” (''Purgatorio'' 20), and Boccaccio's Martellino is beaten with fists and kicks.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The sense “lower end, foot” of a spear, a tree or a mountain grew from “heel”; the butt of a gun is first recorded in 1690.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ The game is first named by Machiavelli (before 1527): ''calcio'' was the old Florentine ball game played by two teams like an ordered battle, in which the ball was struck with the foot or the fist.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) When football came back from England at the end of the 19th century it was first called ''foot-ball'', and ''calcio'' replaced the English name in the 1900s–1920s.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DIFIT) ''Calciatore'' “footballer” is from the early 20th century and ''calcistico'' from about 1930.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) English recorded ''calcio'' for the Florentine game about 1635, and German has ''Calcio'' from 1838.^(DIFIT)

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+ ''Il calcio dell'asino'', “the donkey's kick”, is a cowardly blow to someone who can no longer defend himself, from Phaedrus's fable of the dying lion.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1264 – ''Calcio'' “heel” is recorded in the ''Fiori di filosafi''.^(LEI|9, 1540)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses it for a kick.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi has ''calcio'' and ''calciare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1527 – Machiavelli names the Florentine ball game.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * About 1635 – English records ''calcio'' for the Florentine game.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1690 – The butt of a gun is first called ''calcio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1838 – German ''Calcio'' is recorded for the Florentine game.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1905 – ''Calcio'' is recorded for association football.^(DIFIT)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|kick]]: a blow with the foot, or with an animal's hind leg: ''Il cavallo gli ha dato un calcio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(sport)'' [[m|en|football]], [[m|en|soccer]]: ''Il sabato giocano a calcio nel parco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(sport)'' A kick of the ball: ''calcio di rigore'' (penalty kick), ''calcio d'angolo'' (corner kick), ''calcio di punizione'' (free kick).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The [[m|en|butt]] of a rifle; the grip of a pistol.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' The foot of a tree or a mountain, ''(archaic)'' the heel.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[calciare]]

+ * [[scalciare]]

+ * [[calciatore]]

+ * [[calcistico]]

+ * [[calcetto]]

+ * [[calciobalilla]]

+ * [[calciomercato]]

+ * [[calciatura]]

+ * [[calciolo]]

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+ {{homograph|2|calcium}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1820|origins=la calx}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkal.t͡ʃo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''calcio''' ''m'' (plural calci)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The element is [[bor|la-new|calcium]], the name given to the metal isolated by Humphry Davy in 1808, from [[la|calx|t=lime]].^(DEI|674)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fr|calcium]] and [[es|calcio]].^(Nocentini 2010) The Latin “calx” “lime” is a different word from “calx” “heel”, and the source of [[calce]] “lime”; de Vaan takes it from [[grc|χάλιξ|tr=khálix|t=pebble, gravel]], or from another Mediterranean language that lent it to both Latin and Greek.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in a Bolognese dictionary of 1820;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini dates the word to before 1830.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Calcico'' “containing calcium” is recorded from 1865, ''calcificazione'' from 1875 and ''calcificare'' from the 19th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The element was prepared pure by Bunsen in 1854.^(DEI|674) Its compounds are many: ''carbonato di calcio'' is the main part of limestone and of the skeleton of vertebrates.^(GDLI)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1808 – Davy isolates the element, named ''calcium'' in New Latin.^(DEI|674)

+ * 1820 – ''Calcio'' “calcium” appears in a Bolognese dictionary.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1865 – ''Calcico'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – ''Calcificazione'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chemistry)'' [[m|en|calcium]], the silvery-white alkaline earth metal with atomic number 20 and symbol Ca.^(GDLI)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[calcico]]

+ * [[calcificare]]

+ * [[calcificazione]]

+ * [[decalcificare]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[calce]]

+ * [[calcagno]]

+ * [[la|calx]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Prendere a calci'' means “to kick someone around”, ''dare un calcio alla fortuna'' “to throw away a stroke of luck”, and ''dare calci all'aria'' “to get angry to no purpose”, once also “to be hanged”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) In music ''calcio'' is also the heel of a bow, where the frog sits.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}