doccia Italian · revision 38778

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|attested=1282, Restoro d'Arezzo|origins=la dūcō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈdot.t͡ʃa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''doccia''' ''f'' (plural docce)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also wrote [[m|roa-oit|docia]].^(TLIO) Medieval Latin documents have ''doza'' (Bologna, 1285), ''duza'' (Modena, 1327) and ''ducia'' (Ferrara, 1364) for a water channel.^(DEI|1370)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DELI holds that the words of this family belong together but that neither their starting point nor their relations are clear: the base is either [[la-vul|*dŭcea]], which would give the Italian noun directly, or [[la|ductiō|t=conduit, channelling of water]], used by Vitruvius, which gave [[doccione]] “drainpipe”; both come from [[m|la|dūcō|t=to lead]].^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) Meyer-Lübke made the word a back-formation from that noun and rejected the Vulgar Latin form as impossible in Latin;^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary also prefers the back-formation.^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) Devoto–Oli derive it from [[doccio]] “pipe, gutter”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ DEI gives the meanings separate headings: one is “pipe” (14th century), the other “shower”, a noun formed from [[docciare]].^(DEI|1370) The sense “shower” passed into [[fr|douche]] in the 16th century, and French passed it on to [[es|ducha]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1370)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Restoro d'Arezzo, 1282, in the dialect of Arezzo, in the sense “a sloping channel or pipe that carries water”, as for a mill or an aqueduct.^(TLIO) DELI's first record of the sense “pipe of sheet metal, terracotta or other material” is in the 13th-century chronicle of Malispini.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian also used the word for a roof gutter, for the cooling tube of a still, and for a jet of water gushing from a spring.^(TLIO) The sense “shower”, a jet of water on the body for cleanliness or treatment, is recorded in the ''Ricettario fiorentino'' (1499–1573); DIFIT dates it to 1498.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+

+ French borrowed this sense as ''douche'' (1580–1581, first in the Italian form ''doccia'') and passed it on to English and German.^(DIFIT) ''Doccia scozzese'', a shower alternating hot and cold water and figuratively a run of good and bad news, is a calque of French [[m|fr|douche écossaise]] (1866).^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) In surgery a ''doccia'' is a channel-shaped plaster or metal splint for a broken limb.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses ''doccia'' “water channel”.^(TLIO)

+ * 1285 – Medieval Latin ''doza'' is recorded at Bologna.^(DEI|1370)

+ * 1498 – DIFIT's first date for the sense “shower”.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1580–1581 – French ''douche'' is recorded, from Italian.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1866 – French ''douche écossaise'', the model of ''doccia scozzese'', is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|shower]], a jet of water on the body for washing or treatment: ''Faccio la doccia e arrivo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The fitting that sprays the water, ''(chiefly plural)'' the room with showers: ''Le docce sono in fondo al corridoio.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(by extension)'' A soaking, as in heavy rain.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A [[m|en|gutter]] or downpipe; the outlet of a gutter.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A channel that carries water to the blades of a mill; a channel or ditch.^(GRADIT 2003)^(TLIO)

+ # ''(surgery)'' A channel-shaped [[m|en|splint]] of plaster or metal for a broken limb.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[docciare]]

+ * [[docciatura]]

+ * [[doccione]]

+ * [[docciaio]]

+ * [[docciaschiuma]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[doccio]]

+ * [[condotto]]

+ * [[la|duco]]

+ * [[fr|douche]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Doccia fredda'' “cold shower” is also used figuratively for a sudden disappointment.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}