bosco Italian · revision 38788

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1219, Breve di Montieri|origins=gem-pro *buskaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbɔs.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Regional: /ˈbos.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bosco''' ''m'' (plural boschi)^(Wiktionary)

+ There was an old plural [[roa-oit|boscora]] beside ''boschi''.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Old forms include [[roa-oit|boscho]], [[roa-oit|busco]] and [[roa-oit|vosco]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a Germanic word, from a West Germanic [[gem-pro|*bosk]] or [[m|gem-pro|*busk|t=wood, thicket]], the word of [[de|Busch]] and [[en|bush]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The two forms are reconstructed because the dialects show outcomes with open and with closed /o/ or with /u/.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) Nocentini and DELI take the Italian word from Lombardic, the French and Occitan words from Frankish;^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|1, 1553) DELI allows a Celtic influence as well, and the LEI heads its article with a [[got|*busk]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)^(LEI|1, 1553) Meyer-Lübke instead derived the Italian word from [[pro|bosc]], from [[frk|*busk]], and Wiktionary from [[la-med|boscus]], of the same Frankish origin, from [[gem-pro|*buskaz]].^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) Medieval Latin has [[m|la-med|buscus]] at Padua in 1145.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ The same word is [[fr|bois]], [[pro|bosc]], [[ca|bosc]] and [[fur|bòsc]]; [[es|bosque]] and [[pt|bosque]] are probably loans from Catalan or Gallo-Romance.^(LEI|1, 1553)^(Nocentini 2010) The LEI considers the Germanic origin settled; earlier proposals derived the word from [[grc|βόσκω|tr=bóskō|t=to graze]], from [[la|buxus|t=box tree]] or from Celtic.^(LEI|1, 1553)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Zaccaria already rejected the box tree, since box does not form wide woods and the outcomes of its Latin name never keep the /k/.^(Zaccaria 1901) In Italy the word gradually replaced the Latinism [[selva]].^(LEI|1, 1553)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the ''Breve di Montieri'' of 1219, with the sense “a stretch of land covered with trees and wild shrubs”, and also the trees themselves.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The TLIO's first record is a little earlier, in Uguccione da Lodi, a Cremonese poet of the early 13th century.^(TLIO) At the start of the 13th canto of the ''Inferno'' Dante and Virgil enter ''un bosco / che da nessun sentiero era segnato'', “a wood that no path marked”.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian also used ''bosco'' for a tangle of wild vegetation, a grove sacred to a god, a heap of branches used for building or filling, and figuratively a wild place.^(TLIO) The figurative sense “a mass of things crowded together” is recorded in Tasso (1581), and the bundles of twigs on which silkworms spin their cocoons in 1625.^(DELI 1999) In poetry the word could also mean firewood or timber.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ Tuscan proverbs recorded by Tommaseo include ''è meglio esser uccel di bosco che uccel di gabbia'', “better a bird of the woods than a bird in a cage”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) From the noun came ''boscaglia'' (Medieval Latin ''buscalea'' at Bobbio in 977), ''boschereccio'', ''boscoso'', ''boscaiolo'' and ''imboscare''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 977 – Medieval Latin ''buscalea'' is recorded at Bobbio.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1145 – Medieval Latin ''buscus'' is recorded at Padua.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951)

+ * Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses ''bosco''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1219 – The ''Breve di Montieri'' records ''bosco''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * c. 1319 – Dante enters the wood of the suicides in ''Inferno'' 13.^(GDLI)

+ * Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses ''boscaglia''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1581 – Tasso uses ''bosco'' for a mass of things crowded together.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1625 – The sense “twigs for silkworms” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1935 – ''Sottobosco'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|wood]], [[m|en|woodland]]: land covered with trees, usually tall, with shrubs and other wild plants; the trees themselves: ''un bosco di castagni''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A thick tangle of things: ''un bosco di antenne sui tetti''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(silkworm farming)'' The bundles of twigs on which silkworms spin their cocoons.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(poetic, archaic)'' Firewood, [[legname|alt=timber]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[boscaglia]]

+ * [[boscaiolo]]

+ * [[boschereccio]]

+ * [[boschivo]]

+ * [[boscosità]]

+ * [[boscoso]]

+ * [[diboscare]]

+ * [[disboscare]]

+ * [[imboscare]]

+ * [[imboscata]]

+ * [[imboscato]]

+ * [[rimboscare]]

+ * [[imboschire]]

+ * [[sottobosco]]

+ * [[boschetto]]

+ * [[rimboschimento]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[selva]]

+ * [[fr|bois]]

+ * [[en|bush]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Idioms include ''uccel di bosco'', someone who cannot be found, especially by the police, and ''portare legna al bosco'', to do something useless.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Frutti di bosco'' are wild berries such as blueberries and raspberries.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}