cappello Italian · revision 38973

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=la-lat cappa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kapˈpɛl.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cappello''' ''m'' (plural cappelli)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|capello]], [[m|roa-oit|capelo]], [[m|roa-oit|capiello]], [[m|roa-oit|cappel]] and [[m|roa-oit|chapello]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|cappellus|t=head covering]], a diminutive of [[la-lat|cappa|t=hood; cloak]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Medieval Latin word is recorded from the 9th century.^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fr|chapeau]], [[oc|capell]], [[ca|capell]], [[es|capillo]] and [[pt|capelo]], and Meyer-Lübke also lists Engadinese and Friulian forms;^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Spanish and Portuguese [[m|es|capelo]] “cardinal's hat” were borrowed from Italian.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The origin of the Late Latin noun, recorded from the 6th century in Gregory of Tours, is disputed.^(LEI|11, 375) Isidore of Seville connects it with [[la-lat|capitulare|t=head covering]], and the leading theory takes it as a shortened form of that word, from [[la|caput|t=head]].^(Wiktionary) Alessio instead thought it probably eastern, from [[fa|قبا|tr=qabā]] through Greek.^(LEI|11, 375)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', from the last quarter of the 12th century.^(TLIO) DELI's first date is 1233, in the accounts of Matasalà di Spinello of Siena, which list money spent on a felt hat.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) The sense is “hat, head covering”.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the word for the red hat of cardinals and for the dignity itself, for a helmet, and for a garland or crown: Dante hopes to take “the crown” (''prenderò 'l cappello'') at the font where he was baptised.^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003) It also named the leather hood of a hawk, a lampshade, the head of a nail and other covers.^(TLIO) The cap of a mushroom is recorded in Luigi Pulci (1483), and the introductory paragraph of a written piece, especially a newspaper article, in Ippolito Nievo before 1861.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Many phrases grew around the hat as a sign of respect and status: ''fare tanto di cappello'' “to take one's hat off to someone”, and ''prendere cappello'' “to take offence”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) ''Cappello'' could also stand for a gentleman, as against common people who wore caps.^(GRADIT 2003) The derivative ''cappelletti'' named Dalmatian and Albanian light horsemen of the Venetian Republic, after the hat they wore instead of a helmet, and, from 1819, the stuffed pasta shaped like a little hat, Romagnol ''caplet''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' has the word.^(TLIO)

+ * 1209 – Medieval Latin ''capellectum'' “small hat” is recorded at Ravenna.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1233 – A Sienese account book has ''capello di feltro'' “felt hat”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * 1288 – Medieval Latin ''cappellarius'' “hatter” is recorded at Bologna.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Around 1350 – An object shaped like a hat is called ''cappello'' in the translation of Crescenzi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1483 – Luigi Pulci uses it for the cap of a mushroom.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1819 – ''Cappelletti'' as a stuffed pasta is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1861 – Ippolito Nievo uses ''cappello'' for the opening of a piece of writing.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|hat]]: a head covering, usually with a brim: ''un cappello di paglia per il sole''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(by extension)'' Anything that covers or tops something like a hat: the head of a nail, a lampshade, a cover over a chimney; a cap of cloud on a mountain.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(botany)'' The [[m|en|cap]] of a mushroom.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The introductory part of a speech or a piece of writing, especially of a newspaper article.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(winemaking)'' The mass of grape skins floating on fermenting must.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary, archaic)'' A garland, a poet's [[m|en|crown]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cappellino]]

+ * [[cappelletto]]

+ * [[cappellaccio]]

+ * [[cappellaio]]

+ * [[cappelliera]]

+ * [[cappelleria]]

+ * [[cappellificio]]

+ * [[cappellata]]

+ * [[scappellare]]

+ * [[scappellotto]]

+ * [[incappellare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cappa]]

+ * [[cappuccio]]

+ * [[cappotto]]

+ * [[fr|chapeau]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''fare tanto di cappello'' “to take one's hat off to” and ''prendere cappello'' “to take offence”;^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''cappello cardinalizio'' is the cardinal's red hat and his rank.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}