pillola Italian · revision 38807

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1288, Florentine document|origins=la pila}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpil.lo.la/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pillola''' ''f'' (plural pillole, relational adjective pillolare)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|pillule]], [[roa-oit|pilola]] and [[roa-oit|pirola]].^(TLIO) The Tuscan form [[pillora]] arose by dissimilation.^(GDLI)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|pilula|t=little ball, pellet]], a learned word; the Latin was also spelled [[m|la|pillula]], a diminutive of [[m|la|pila|t=ball]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Devoto explains the ⟨ll⟩ by crossing with [[palla]].^(Devoto 1968) Popular outcomes of the Latin word appear in the dialects, such as [[vec|pirola]], [[fur|pirule]] and [[scn|pinula]].^(REW 1935) The same Latin word gave [[fr|pilule]] and [[es|píldora]], and through Medieval Latin [[de|Pille]] and [[en|pill]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ DELI calls the origin of the base word uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Nocentini thinks it is probably a collective of [[la|pilus|t=hair]], meaning a tangle or ball of hair, and Wiktionary notes that Roman balls were stuffed with hair.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is a Florentine document of 1286–1290, dated 1288.^(TLIO) DELI gives Zucchero Bencivenni (1310), who in a medical text warns against a medicine “of coarse substance, as pills are”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian also used the word for a small fruit or berry, such as the cypress cone, and for a small ornament or trinket.^(TLIO)^(DEI|2921) Tuscan ''pillora'' and ''pilloro'' could mean a large river pebble, a sense recorded in Targioni Tozzetti in 1751.^(DEI|2921)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ The phrase ''indorare la pillola'', “to gild the pill”, comes from the apothecaries' custom of wrapping pills in gold leaf to make them easier to take, described in an Italian translation of Lémery's pharmacopoeia (1720).^(DELI 1999) DELI thinks it came from French ''dorer la pilule'', recorded from Molière in 1668, while DEI cites a Medieval Latin ''pilula aurea'' of the 14th century.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2921) From 1967 ''la pillola'' is the contraceptive pill.^(DELI 1999) Later uses include ''in pillole'', “in small doses, in summary form”, and the joking sense “bullet”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1288 – A Florentine document records ''pillola''.^(TLIO)

+ * 1310 – Zucchero Bencivenni uses it in a medical text.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1668 – Molière uses French ''dorer la pilule''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1720 – A translated pharmacopoeia describes gilded pills.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1751 – Targioni Tozzetti uses ''pillola'' for a river pebble.^(DEI|2921)

+ * 1967 – ''La pillola'' is recorded for the contraceptive pill.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|pill]]: a small rounded medicine to be swallowed whole: ''Deve prendere una pillola dopo i pasti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(with the article)'' The contraceptive pill.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Something unpleasant that has to be accepted: ''una pillola amara''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A small, concentrated dose of a subject; a short piece of advice: ''pillole di storia''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' A river [[ciottolo|alt=pebble]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(jocular)'' A [[pallottola|alt=bullet]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pillolame]]

+ * [[pillolario]]

+ * [[pilloliera]]

+ * [[pilloliere]]

+ * [[pillolare]]

+ * [[pillolo]]

+ * [[pillorata]]

+ * [[pilloro]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pasticca]]

+ * [[palla]]

+ * [[pallottola]]

+ * [[la|pila]]

+ * [[en|pill]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''indorare la pillola'', to soften bad news, ''ingoiare la pillola'', to accept something unpleasant, ''in pillole'', in small doses or in summary, and ''pillola del giorno dopo'', the morning-after pill.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}