taglia Italian · revision 39059

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=before 1294, Brunetto Latini|origins=la tālea}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtaʎ.ʎa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''taglia''' ''f'' (plural taglie)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also wrote ''taia'' and ''tallia''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a derivation of [[tagliare|t=to cut]], with a model in French [[m|fr|taille]], recorded from 1160.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary) The GDLI and Treccani derive the word directly from Old French [[m|fro|taille|t=cutting]], the noun of [[m|fro|taillier|t=to cut]], and DEI notes that the French noun moved from the cutting of images to the size of the human body.^(GDLI)^(Treccani 2011)^(DEI|3698) Nocentini sees it this way: Old Italian had a native [[m|roa-oit|taglia|t=olive cutting; log]], while the senses “body size” and “personal tax”, and, from the tax the ransom and the reward, were calqued on the French word.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The verb goes back to [[m|la-lat|tāliō|t=to cut, prune]], a word of tree-growing, formed on [[m|la|tālea|t=cutting, slip]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Meyer-Lübke lists the same noun as [[m|fro|taille]], [[pro|talha]], [[ca|talla]], [[es|taja]] and [[pt|talha]], meaning “tally stick”, “tax” and “figure”.^(REW 1935) A form [[la-med|tallia]] is recorded for a tax at Lucca in 1268 and at Verona in 1276.^(DEI|3698)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI and GRADIT date the word before 1294, from Brunetto Latini, in the sense “stature, build of the body”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Bono Giamboni also used it before 1292 for a slaughter in battle, a sense now lost.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante used it for the cut of a garment, the hoods of the monks of Cluny: ''fatte de la taglia / che in Clugnì per li monaci fassi''.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) From the early 14th century, in Dino Compagni and Giovanni Villani, it meant a levy or tax, and in the Florentine leagues the contribution of men or money each member owed; then a tribute imposed on the defeated, and ransom for prisoners (Filippo Villani, Sacchetti).^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3698)^(GRADIT 2003) A ''taglia'' was also the tally stick on which notches recorded goods sold on credit, so that ''a taglia'' meant “on credit”.^(DEI|3698)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ From the 17th century (Buonarroti the Younger, Salvini) the word took the sense “price on someone's head”, the reward for catching a bandit;^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo in 1879 called it the current sense.^(DELI 1999) The modern sense, the conventional size of ready-made clothes, is recorded from 1955, and the ''cacciatore di taglie'' is the bounty hunter of the American West.^(DELI 1999)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''taglia'' for a slaughter.^(GDLI)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for stature.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1310 – Dino Compagni uses it for a levy.^(DEI|3698)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the cut of a garment.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1400 – Filippo Villani and Sacchetti use it for ransom.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 17th century – It is used for a reward for catching a criminal.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1955 – It is recorded for a clothing size.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The physical build of a person; [[m|en|stature]]: ''un uomo di taglia robusta''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of animals, body size, measured at the withers in quadrupeds: ''un gatto di taglia media''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # [[m|en|size]] of clothes, given by a number or letter: ''Questa giacca non c'è nella mia taglia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|bounty]], a reward offered for the capture of a criminal: ''Sulla testa del brigante pendeva una taglia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' A ransom demanded for the release of a kidnapped person.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(history)'' A tax or levy; a tribute imposed on the defeated; a contribution owed by the members of a league.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(archaic)'' The cut of a garment; a uniform.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[taglieggiare]]

+ * [[taglieggiatore]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tagliare]]

+ * [[taglio]]

+ * [[talea]]

+ * [[fr|taille]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate word ''taglia'' is the heavy tackle with two or more blocks used to lift weights on ships;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI dates it 1306, from Giordano da Pisa, and Galileo called it the Tuscan word for the Greek ''trochlea''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Its origin is uncertain: Nocentini and Devoto–Oli derive it from a non-Tuscan outcome of Latin ''tabula'' “board” in the dialects of the Tyrrhenian maritime republics, Genoese ''tagia'' and Amalfitan ''tallia''.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) German ''Talje'' (1700) probably came from it through Dutch.^(DIFIT) ''Taglia forte'' and ''taglia unica'' are “large size” and “one size”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}