armadio Italian · revision 38825

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la arma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /arˈma.djo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''armadio''' ''m'' (plural armadi)^(Wiktionary)

+ The older form [[roa-oit|armario]] fell out of use after the 18th century; the TLIO also records [[roa-oit|armaro]] and [[roa-oit|armer]].^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) Northern dialects have forms of the type [[vec|armaro]] and [[lmo|armari]], and Lucca has ''armale''.^(Prati 1951|69)^(LEI|3, 1256)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It continues [[bor|la|armārium|t=cupboard, chest]], first as [[roa-oit|armario]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The ⟨d⟩ arose by dissimilation of the two /r/ sounds, as in [[rado]] beside [[raro]] and old [[roa-oit|fedire]] for [[ferire]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Prati 1951|69) Treccani adds a probable influence of [[madia|t=kneading trough]], and Devoto explains the form by such a crossing.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ DEI and Prati take the Italian word as a learned or late borrowing: DEI explains that in the Middle Ages the cupboard was found only in great houses and monasteries.^(DEI|291)^(Prati 1951|69) Popular outcomes of the Latin word survive in the eastern Romance languages, such as [[ro|almar]] and [[ro|armar]] and [[dlm|armir]], in [[fur|armâr]], and in northern Italy, Tuscany and the South.^(LEI|3, 1256)^(REW 1935) Elsewhere it gave [[fr|armoire]], [[oc|armari]], [[ca|armari]], [[es|armario]] and [[pt|armário]].^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin noun is formed from [[m|la|arma|t=arms; tools]] with the suffix [[m|la|-ārium]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The LEI takes [[m|la|arma]] here in the sense of household utensils, so that the word first meant a place for keeping tools.^(LEI|3, 1256) De Vaan derives [[m|la|arma]] from the root [[ine-pro|*h₂er-|t=to fit together]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is Bono Giamboni's translation of Orosius (before 1292), with ''armario'' for a large piece of furniture for keeping things, often books.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) The form ''armadio'' appears in Maestro Alberto (before 1332): ''È qui l'armadio de' libri'', “here is the book cupboard”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century ''armario'' could also mean the town archive in Tuscany, northern Italy and Umbria, and the TLIO records the figurative sense of the heart or soul as a container of virtues or vices.^(DEI|291)^(TLIO) The LEI explains how the object developed from the medieval chest for linen and clothes, or from a wall niche closed with a curtain or doors, into the modern wardrobe; in the 16th century a two-part cupboard still looked like two chests stacked together.^(LEI|3, 1256)

+

+ The jocular sense “a tall, heavily built person” is recent and recorded in the GDLI supplement.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003) The phrase ''avere uno scheletro nell'armadio'', to have a skeleton in the cupboard, and the ''cabina armadio'', a walk-in wardrobe, are modern.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – ''Armario'' in Bono Giamboni's Orosius.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1332 – ''Armadio'' in Maestro Alberto.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Armario'' also means a town archive.^(DEI|291)

+ * 18th century – ''Armario'' goes out of use.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|wardrobe]], [[m|en|cupboard]]: a tall piece of furniture closed by doors, with shelves or drawers, for clothes, linen and other things: ''Ho messo i maglioni nell'armadio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''armadio a muro'': a built-in cupboard set into a wall.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative, jocular)'' A tall, heavily built person: ''Il buttafuori era un armadio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[armadietto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[arma]]

+ * [[armamentario]]

+ * [[la|armarium]]

+ * [[fr|armoire]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}