scemo Italian · revision 39009

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1310–1313, Dante|origins=la sēmis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈʃe.mo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scemo''' (feminine scema, masculine plural scemi, feminine plural sceme)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had [[m|roa-oit|semo]], [[m|roa-oit|sciemo]] and [[m|roa-oit|scimo]].^(GDLI)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortened past participle of [[scemare|t=to diminish]], without the ending ⟨-ato⟩.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI) Nocentini and Devoto–Oli explain the sense “stupid” as figurative: one who is lacking.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The verb comes from [[la-vul|*exsēmō|alt=*exsēmāre]], from [[m|la|ex-]] and [[la-lat|sēmus|t=half, halved]], from [[la|sēmis|t=half]]: properly “to take away half”.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini starts from a form [[m|la-vul|*sēmō|alt=*semāre]] without the prefix;^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3381) DEI starts from Late Latin [[m|la-lat|sēmō|alt=sēmāre|t=to halve]], found in glosses.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3381) [[fro|semer]] and [[pro|semar]] are related.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3381) REW, Körting and Prati derive the adjective directly from the Latin adjective “reduced”, which REW also finds in Logudorese [[sc|sem]], [[fur|sem]], [[ca|sem|t=incomplete]] and [[m|pro|sem|t=diminished, defective]].^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)^(Prati 1951) DELI notes that [[m|la-med|semus]] in the sense “not full” is recorded in the Medieval Latin of Sacile in the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Dante (1310–1313), in the sense “not full, not whole”.^(DELI 1999) In the ''Inferno'' Dante notices that the mountainside is hollowed out (''m'accorsi che 'l monte era scemo'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''scemo'' described a half-empty barrel or flask, a waning moon, a person lacking something (Dante writes that Virgil had left them ''scemi di sé'', bereft of himself), and a gaunt face.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) As a noun it meant a decrease or a lack: Giovanni Villani reckons the price of grain “with all the ''scemo'' of the dead”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Boccaccio (1353) has the sense “lacking in judgement”, said of a person, and Prati cites Berni for “imbecile”.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951) In architecture an ''arco scemo'' is a segmental arch, recorded from 1550.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) The sense “stupid” is now the usual one; the old senses survive in Tuscan and literary use.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The derivative [[scemenza]] “silly thing” was a word of Rome and the south that spread into the common language only in the 20th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Medieval Latin ''semus'' “not full” is recorded at Sacile.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1310–1313 – Dante uses ''scemo'' “not full, hollowed”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for a person lacking judgement.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1550 – Cosimo Bartoli writes of an ''arco scemo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1918 – Panzini records ''scemenza'' as a southern word.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|stupid]], silly, slow-witted: ''Non sono mica così scemo da credergli.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial, affectionate)'' Silly, said teasingly to someone close: ''Ma dai, scemo, stavo scherzando!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of things: foolish, [[insulso|alt=inane]]: ''un programma scemo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(Tuscan, literary)'' Not full, not whole: ''un fiasco scemo''; of the moon, waning.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(architecture)'' ''Arco scemo'': a [[m|en|segmental arch]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|fool]], an idiot: ''Smettila di fare lo scemo.''^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A decrease or lack; the missing part of something.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scemenza]]

+ * [[scemata]]

+ * [[scemaggine]]

+ * [[scemamente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scemare]]

+ * [[semi-]]

+ * [[la|semis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Lo scemo del villaggio'' is the village idiot;^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) ''fare lo scemo'' means to play the fool, and also to flirt.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) A ''scemo di guerra'' is a man left mentally disturbed by war.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}