tagliare Italian · revision 38907

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1231–1250, Cielo d'Alcamo|origins=la tālea}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /taʎˈʎa.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tagliare''' (first-person singular present tàglio, first-person singular past historic tagliài, past participle tagliàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include ''tagghiare'', ''taiare'', ''talare'', ''taliare'' and ''talliare''.^(GDLI|20, 671) [[nap|tale]] “log” and Calabrian ''taya'' “tree stump” continue the Latin noun.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|tāliō|t=to cut, prune]], recorded from the 6th century in the writings of the Roman land surveyors, a verb formed from [[la|tālia]], a variant of [[m|la|tālea|t=cutting, slip of a plant; stake]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Its first sense was therefore “to cut off a branch”.^(DELI 1999) The surveyors also have [[m|la-lat|taliatura|t=cleft]] and [[m|la-lat|taliatus|t=split]], and Nonius explains [[m|la|intertaliō|t=to divide or cut off a branch]].^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3698) DÉRom reconstructs the Proto-Romance verb “to cut” behind all these forms: since every branch of Romance has it, it belongs to the oldest layer of Proto-Romance, where it largely replaced the verb continued from [[m|la|secō]].^(DÉRom)

+

+ The verb is pan-Romance: [[fr|tailler]], [[oc|talhar]], [[ca|tallar]], [[es|tajar]], [[pt|talhar]], [[sc|tazare]], [[ro|tăia]] and [[dlm|taluor]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The origin of [[m|la|tālea]] is unknown.^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) A link with [[grc|τᾶλις|tr=tâlis|t=girl, bride]] through a basic meaning “to sprout” is, for de Vaan, a wild guess; the only alternative is a derivative of [[m|la|tālus|t=ankle, knuckle]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) M. Alinei took the Latin noun as the neuter plural of [[m|la|tālis|t=such]], against the usual view.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Several uses follow French models: the phrases for blocking the way and for cutting short match those with [[fr|couper]], and [[taglia]] in the sense “body size” follows [[fr|taille]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first dated record is in the ''Contrasto'' of Cielo d'Alcamo (1231–1250), with the sense “to remove a part by cutting”: ''tagliarami le trezze'', “I will cut off my plaits”.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT puts the first record before 1250 and Nocentini at the beginning of the 13th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the verb already meant to divide with a blade, to wound, and to be sharp;^(DELI 1999) Dante uses it without an object for a blade that cuts.^(DELI 1999) Giovanni Villani also used ''tagliare'' for “to impose a ransom” on prisoners, from ''taglia'' in that sense.^(GDLI|20, 671)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Later senses extend the image of cutting through something: “to cross, intersect” (before 1566, Ruscelli), “to split” (Galileo), “to plough through the waves”, and “to shorten, condense” a text (both in Tommaseo, 1879).^(DELI 1999) The intransitive “to take the shortest way” is in Petrocchi's dictionary of 1891.^(DELI 1999) Military Italian has ''tagliare fuori'' “to cut off from the base” (1611), and the wine trade ''tagliare il vino'' “to blend wine” (1839), like French ''couper le vin''.^(DEI|3699)

+

+ Many idioms are built on the verb: ''tagliare la corda'' “to slip away”, a sailors' phrase for cutting the cable to sail off, spread in Tuscany in the 20th century;^(DEI|3699)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''tagliare i ponti'' “to break off relations”;^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011) ''tagliare i panni addosso'' “to speak ill of someone”; and ''tagliare la testa al toro'' “to settle a question once and for all”, which DELI explains as the last act of the old bullfights.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1231–1250 – Cielo d'Alcamo uses ''tagliare'' “to cut off”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses the verb for a blade that cuts.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Tagliare'' “to impose a ransom” in Giovanni Villani.^(GDLI|20, 671)

+ * Before 1566 – The sense “to cross, intersect” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1611 – ''Tagliar fuori'' is recorded as a military term.^(DEI|3699)

+ * 1805 – ''Tagliare la strada'' “to block the way” is recorded.^(DEI|3699)

+ * 1879 – Tommaseo records “to shorten, abridge” and “to plough through”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – Petrocchi records the intransitive “to take a short cut”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|cut]], divide into parts with a blade or other sharp tool: ''Taglia il pane a fette sottili.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To be sharp, to cut well: ''Queste forbici non tagliano più.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To make a cut or incision in; to wound: ''Si è tagliato un dito aprendo la scatoletta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To cut off, remove a part; to fell trees, mow hay; to [[m|en|amputate]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To trim, shorten: ''tagliarsi i capelli'', ''tagliare le unghie''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To cut out a garment from cloth following a pattern.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To shorten or cut a text, film or budget: ''Il regista ha tagliato due scene.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To cut off, interrupt a supply or communication: ''tagliare la luce'', ''tagliare i viveri''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To cross, cut across; to plough through the waves, ''tagliare la strada'', to cut in front of someone.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To blend wine; to cut a drug with other substances.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[taglio]]

+ * [[taglia]]

+ * [[tagliato]]

+ * [[tagliata]]

+ * [[tagliatella]]

+ * [[tagliente]]

+ * [[tagliando]]

+ * [[tagliatore]]

+ * [[tagliuzzare]]

+ * [[taglieggiare]]

+ * [[intagliare]]

+ * [[ritagliare]]

+ * [[stagliare]]

+ * [[frastagliare]]

+ * [[attagliarsi]]

+ * [[tagliaborse]]

+ * [[taglialegna]]

+ * [[tagliacarte]]

+ * [[tagliaunghie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[talea]]

+ * [[tagliere]]

+ * [[fr|tailler]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Devoto–Oli, Gabrielli and the GDLI give a separate, archaic ''tagliare'' “to impose a ransom or tribute”, formed from [[taglia]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(GDLI|20, 671) An old noun ''tagliare'' meant the cutting edge of a blade, as in Cavalca's ''coltello da due tagliari'', “a two-edged knife”.^(GDLI|20, 671)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}