bicchiere Italian · revision 38757

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=1234, Matasala|origins=grc βῖκος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /bikˈkjɛ.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bicchiere''' ''m'' (plural bicchieri)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older forms include [[roa-oit|bicchiero]], [[roa-oit|becchieri]], [[roa-oit|bichiere]] and [[roa-oit|becchiere]], and Old Roman has [[roa-oit|pichieri]] (1434–1449).^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) The final vowel stayed unsettled until the 19th century: Borsieri still wrote ''bicchiero''.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|140)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020) Nocentini takes it as a loan, [[bor|fro|bichier]], from [[la-vul|*bicārium|t=jug, tankard]];^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) the Latin word is confirmed by a 9th-century gloss [[la-med|becarius]] “a kind of small jug”, and Old Walloon has [[m|wa|bichier]] as a measure for liquids.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Prati 1951|140)^(REW 1935) Three sources compete for the Latin word, as DELI sets them out: [[grc|βῖκος|tr=bîkos|t=wine jar]], a Vulgar Latin derivative, and [[frk|*bikāri]].^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) Nocentini, Prati, Treccani and Wiktionary favour the Greek word, Treccani with a formation in France;^(Nocentini 2010)^(Prati 1951|140)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary) Devoto, Devoto–Oli and GRADIT start from the Frankish word, which GDLI connects with [[la|bacar|t=wine vessel]], a word recorded by Festus.^(Devoto 1968)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI) Zaccaria thought the word German, because the early Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|bicarium]] appears first in German writers.^(Zaccaria 1901) DELI thinks closer study might reconcile the explanations.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The Latin word passed early into Germanic: [[goh|behhari|t=cup, tankard]], [[de|Becher]] and [[en|beaker]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Forms with initial /p/ and the stress drawn back, in Italian and in the Balkans, can only be explained through a reshaping in Old High German, according to Sabatini.^(DELI 1999) They include Old Serbian [[m|sh|pehari]], [[cs|pehar]], [[hu|pohár]], [[ro|pahar]] and [[sq|pehar]], and Italian [[pecchero]] “large tankard”, which Redi called a word come from Germany.^(REW 1935)^(Prati 1951|140)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the plural ''bichieri'' in Matasala (1234); Jacopone da Todi has ''becchieri'' (before 1306) and Cecco Angiolieri ''becchier'' (before 1313).^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) The TLIO's first example is in Ugo di Perso, a 13th-century poet of Cremona.^(TLIO) The sense is the cup to drink from; the first record of a glass as a measure of its contents is in Boccaccio (1348–1353).^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Boccaccio's company in the ''Decameron'' finds tables laid with white cloths and “glasses that looked like silver” (''bicchieri che d'ariento parevano'').^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In Old Italian the glass was also a byword for a thing of little worth, and ''un bicchiere d'acqua'' meant a trifle.^(TLIO) In the 19th century Tommaseo kept ''bicchiere'' for a drinking glass, mostly of glass, apart from ''tazza'', a cup for coffee of earthenware or other material.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ''Bicchierata'', the contents of a glass, is in Tommaseo's dictionary (1865), and as a drink in company in Arlia (1895), with Milanese ''biccerada'' from 1843.^(DELI 1999) ''Sottobicchiere'' “coaster” is recorded in 1893.^(Nocentini 2010) Technical senses followed: an old measure for liquids, the outer case of a grenade and the dice cup (1973).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Devoto–Oli explains ''il bicchiere della staffa'', the last drink before leaving, by the old custom of drinking it with a foot already in the stirrup.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1234 – The plural ''bichieri'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses ''becchieri''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses ''bicchiere'' for the contents of a glass.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1434–1449 – Roman ''pichieri'' appears in a book of recipes.^(DELI 1999)

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

+ * 1893 – ''Sottobicchiere'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1973 – The senses “dice cup” and “grenade casing” enter the dictionaries.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A drinking [[m|en|glass]], a small vessel, usually of glass, used to drink from: ''Ha comprato sei bicchieri da birra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|glassful]], the amount a glass holds; a glass of wine or another alcoholic drink: ''Prendiamo un bicchiere dopo il lavoro?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A [[m|en|beaker]], ''bicchiere graduato'', a measuring glass.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An old unit of measure for liquids, of different size in different places.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The outer casing of a grenade.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bicchierino]]

+ * [[bicchierata]]

+ * [[sbicchierare]]

+ * [[sbicchierata]]

+ * [[sottobicchiere]]

+ * [[bicchieraio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pecchero]]

+ * [[de|Becher]]

+ * [[en|beaker]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''affogare in un bicchiere d'acqua'', to be at a loss over a trifling difficulty, ''una tempesta in un bicchier d'acqua'', a great fuss about nothing, and ''alzare il bicchiere'', to drink a toast.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Fondo di bicchiere'' is a fake diamond.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}