colonnello Italian · revision 38705

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1472, Milan|origins=la columna}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ko.lonˈnɛl.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''colonnello''' ''m'' (plural colonnelli)^(Wiktionary)

+ Feminine ''colonnella'', though the masculine is often used of a woman.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|colonna|-ello]], a diminutive of “colonna” “column”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999) The military sense comes from “colonna” as a column of soldiers: the “colonnello” was first the body of several companies, and then the officer in command of it.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(GDLI) “Colonna” is [[inh|la|columna|t=column, pillar]], a word of Indo-European origin; de Vaan finds it hard to derive from [[m|la|columen|t=top, summit]] by any regular process.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ As a small column, the word is older: the LEI places it under [[la|columnellus|t=small column; pillar]], beside the older [[m|la|columellus]], and Old Italian “colonnello” “small column” is recorded in a Sienese document of 1277–1282.^(LEI|15, 1164)^(TLIO) The officer's title passed from Italian into [[fr|colonel]] (1534, also “coronel” in the 16th century), into [[es|coronel]] (1511), and, from French into [[en|colonel]] (1548).^(DIFIT)^(GDLI)^(DEI|1019)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record of the military word is from Milan in 1472, for a corps of soldiers made up of several companies.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) Agnolo Firenzuola (1518–1525) uses it for the commander of such a corps, and Francesco Algarotti, before 1764, for the senior officer who commands a regiment, the modern sense.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The older ''colonnello'' “small column” is common in the 14th century: Giovanni Villani describes a Florentine tower “fatto a colonnelli di marmo” (“built with small marble columns”).^(GDLI)^(TLIO) Builders used it for the upright beam of a roof truss, and printers from 1635 for a vertical division of a page; in Old Italian it also named the columns of an account book and a family line or kin group.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DIFIT)^(TLIO)^(DEI|1019)

+

+ In the army the ''colonnello'' commanded a regiment by the 18th century; the ''tenente colonnello'' ranks below him.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The ''regime dei colonnelli'' is the military dictatorship in Greece from 1967 to 1974.^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In journalism a ''colonnello'' is a young, ambitious lieutenant of a party leader.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1277–1282 – ''Colonnello'' “small column” appears in a Sienese document.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1348 – It is recorded for the upright beam of a roof truss.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1472 – At Milan it names a corps of several companies.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+ * 1511 – Spanish ''coronel'' is recorded.^(GDLI)

+ * 1518–1525 – Firenzuola uses it for the commander of the corps.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1534 – French ''coulonnel'', later ''colonel'', is borrowed.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1548 – English ''colonel'' is recorded.^(GDLI)

+ * Before 1764 – Algarotti uses it for the commander of a regiment.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(military)'' A [[m|en|colonel]]: the senior officer between ''tenente colonnello'' and general, in the army, the air force and the armed corps of the state, commanding a [[m|en|regiment]] or a similar unit.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(journalism)'' A close, often young and ambitious [[m|en|lieutenant]] of a political leader: ''Il segretario ha mandato avanti i suoi colonnelli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(historical)'' A corps of soldiers made up of several companies; a regiment.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(architecture)'' The upright beam of a roof [[m|en|truss]], a king post, ''(archaic)'' a small column.^(GRADIT 2003)^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+ # ''(printing)'' A vertical division of a page or a table.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tenente colonnello]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[colonna]]

+ * [[colonnato]]

+ * [[fr|colonel]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Bandiera colonnella'' (1630), a word taken from French ''colonel'', was the flag of a colonel's company.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}