ghiaccio Italian · revision 38915

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1230–1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=la glaciēs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɡjat.t͡ʃo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ghiaccio''' ''m'' (plural ghiacci)^(Wiktionary)

+ Tuscan has the variant [[diaccio]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Old forms include [[roa-oit|ghiacio]], [[roa-oit|giaccio]], [[roa-oit|chiaccio]] and northern [[roa-oit|giazo]].^(TLIO)

+ The adjective ''ghiaccio'' has the feminine ''ghiaccia'' and the plurals ''ghiacci'', ''ghiacce''.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*glacia|alt=*glăcia]], a spoken form of the classical [[la|glaciēs|t=ice]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) The Latin feminine kept its gender in every Romance language but Italian, where the oldest texts have both the feminine [[roa-oit|ghiaccia]] and the masculine; the feminine survives in some dialects and place names.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) Sabatini–Coletti and the GDLI think the masculine was influenced by [[gelo]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI) In the Tuscan [[diaccio]] the Latin cluster /ɡl/ became the voiced affricate /dʒ/.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The same Latin word is [[fr|glace]] and [[ro|gheață]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Spanish and Portuguese, like Sardinian, use words from [[la|gelū|t=frost]] instead: [[es|hielo]], [[pt|gelo]].^(Körting 1907) The formation of the Latin noun is unclear: it has the same meaning as the word for frost, and is usually compared with it, but de Vaan finds no sensible way to derive it from a root meaning “to be cold”.^(DELI 1999)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ The adjective meaning “icy cold” is a shortened past participle of [[ghiacciare]], recorded from the 13th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(TLIO)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Sicilian poet Giacomo da Lentini (about 1230–1250), in a Tuscan copy, with the sense “water in its solid state”, the coldest thing of all.^(TLIO) DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni (before 1292), and Brunetto Latini (before 1294) has the feminine ''ghiaccia''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used the word also for a frozen surface or glacier, for hail and frost, and by metonymy for winter, the ''tempo del ghiaccio''.^(TLIO) Love poets set ice against fire: the lady's coldness against the lover's ardour, or disappointment against hope, and the ice of sudden dismay at her beauty.^(TLIO) Petrarch already wrote of the snow and ice in the valleys in place of grass,^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) and the figurative ''rompere il ghiaccio'' “to break the ice” goes back to him.^(Prati 1951|496)

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+ The derivative ''ghiacciaio'' “glacier” was formed as a masculine of ''ghiacciaia'' to translate [[fr|glacier]] and German ''Gletscher''; recorded before 1836, it spread through Antonio Stoppani's ''Il Bel Paese'' (1875).^(DELI 1999) ''Ghiacciolo'' meant an icicle from the 14th century and an ice lolly from 1959.^(DELI 1999) The adjective appears in Poliziano's line on “living water, clear and icy” (''l'acqua viva chiara e ghiaccia'').^(GDLI)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1230–1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''ghiaccio'' and ''ghiaccia''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''ghiaccio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Ghiacciolo'' “icicle” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1681 – Daniello Bartoli uses ''ghiacciaia'' “ice house”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1836 – ''Ghiacciaio'' “glacier” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – Antonio Stoppani's ''Il Bel Paese'' spreads ''ghiacciaio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – ''Ghiacciolo'' is recorded in the sense “ice lolly”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|ice]]: water in its solid state, below 0 °C: ''Metti due cubetti di ghiaccio nel bicchiere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''ghiaccio secco'': [[m|en|dry ice]], solid carbon dioxide used for refrigeration.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' The ice of polar seas and very cold places.^(Wiktionary)^(GDLI)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Icy, very [[m|en|cold]]: ''Ho i piedi ghiacci.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ghiacciare]]

+ * [[ghiacciaia]]

+ * [[ghiacciaio]]

+ * [[ghiacciata]]

+ * [[ghiacciato]]

+ * [[ghiacciolo]]

+ * [[ghiacciatura]]

+ * [[agghiacciare]]

+ * [[agghiacciante]]

+ * [[sghiacciare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gelo]]

+ * [[la|glaciēs]]

+ * [[fr|glace]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Figurative phrases include ''rompere il ghiaccio'' “to break the ice”, ''essere di ghiaccio'' “to be unfeeling”, ''rimanere di ghiaccio'' “to be dumbfounded” and ''cuore di ghiaccio'' “heart of ice”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) The adjective is uncommon and literary beside ''ghiacciato''.^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}