tocco Italian · revision 39102

+ {{homograph|1|touch}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1313–1319, Dante (adjective); c. 1340 (noun)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtok.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tocco''' ''m'' (plural tocchi)^(Wiktionary)

+ As an adjective: '''tocco''' (feminine ''tocca'', plural ''tocchi'', ''tocche'').^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The touch is formed from [[toccare|t=to touch]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) The noun is a deverbal derivative, like [[fr|touche]] from [[m|fr|toucher]], which DEI dates to the 13th century.^(DEI|3808)^(Wiktionary) The adjective is the short past participle of the verb, without the ending of the full participle.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ Meyer-Lübke traces the verb, with [[fr|toucher]] and [[es|tocar]], to an imitative word for a knock, also seen in [[fr|toc]]; he lists the Italian adjective, [[lmo|tok]] “simple-minded”, also “worm-eaten” of fruit in Milan, among its derivatives.^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) DEI also treats the stroke of a bell as imitative, and compares the sense “a bit mad” with French [[m|fr|toqué]] (1836).^(DEI|3808)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Dante (1313–1319) is DELI's first record for the participle ''tocco'' “touched”.^(DELI 1999) DEI dates the noun, “the act of touching”, to the 14th century, with the translation of Palladius;^(DEI|3808)^(GRADIT 2003) GRADIT dates it to about 1340.^(DEI|3808)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century Matteo Villani uses the noun for a stroke of the clapper of a bell;^(DEI|3808) Medieval Latin ''tribus tocchis'' “with three strokes” is recorded in 1366.^(DEI|3808) From the strokes of the clock comes the Tuscan ''il tocco'', one o'clock in the afternoon.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DEI|3808) Later senses are a hint or nod (17th century), a sound (16th century), the way of handling paint in art (Baldinucci, 17th century) and the way of playing an instrument in music (Algarotti, 18th century).^(DEI|3808) In Florence from the 15th to the 18th century the ''tocco'' was also the demand for payment made to debtors by officials who touched them with a rod.^(GRADIT 2003) A ''tocco'' became an apoplectic fit in 1879.^(DEI|3808)

+

+ The adjective ''tocco'' “a little mad” and of fruit “bruised” is dated by DELI only to 1961, though Nocentini gives the 14th century.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1313–1319 – Dante uses ''tocco'' “touched”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1340 – GRADIT's date for the noun.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 14th century – Matteo Villani uses ''tocco'' for a stroke of a bell.^(DEI|3808)

+ * 1366 – Medieval Latin ''tocchis'' (strokes of a bell) is recorded at Montalboddo.^(DEI|3808)

+ * 18th century – Algarotti uses the musical sense.^(DEI|3808)

+ * 1879 – ''Tocco'' is recorded for an apoplectic fit.^(DEI|3808)

+ * 1961 – The adjective is recorded for a person “a bit mad”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|touch]]: a light, brief contact or pressure: ''Con un tocco del dito accese lo schermo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A finishing touch: ''gli ultimi tocchi'' to a piece of work.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|knock]] or blow struck on something: ''Sentimmo tre tocchi alla finestra.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The stroke of a bell or public clock, ''(Tuscany)'' ''il tocco'', one o'clock in the afternoon.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(music)'' A player's touch on a keyboard or string instrument.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(art)'' The way an artist handles the pencil or brush; a short brushstroke, ''(figurative)'' a person's characteristic style.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(sport)'' A light touch of the ball; a player's way of striking it.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' An apoplectic [[m|en|stroke]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A little mad, [[m|en|touched]]: ''Quel tuo vicino è un po' tocco.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' Of fruit, bruised or partly spoiled.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' Touched, moved, as a past participle of ''toccare''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ {{homograph|2|chunk}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=before 1698, Francesco Redi}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtɔk.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tocco''' ''m'' (plural tocchi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The chunk is of uncertain origin.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3808)^(DELI 1999) DELI calls it unknown and notes that the FEW simply refers it to [[toccare]] without accounting for the open /ɔ/ beside the close /o/ of the word for “touch”.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini accepts the derivation from the verb, in the sense of a piece knocked off with a blow, and compares [[ro|toca|t=to chop meat]]; he explains the open vowel as a non-Tuscan pronunciation that spread because it kept “piece” apart from “stroke of a bell”.^(Nocentini 2010) GDLI also mentions a link with [[tocca]].^(GDLI|20, 1100) Zaccaria sees the word as a doublet of that noun, which meant “cloth”.^(Zaccaria 1901) Wiktionary instead suggests [[la|tucca|t=a meat preserve in lard]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The northern dialects have the word too: [[rgn|tòc]] and [[vec|tòco]] “piece” (of meat or cheese), and [[la-med|tochus|alt=tocho terre]] “a piece of land” at Verona in 1329.^(DEI|3808)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Francesco Redi (before 1698), for a fairly large piece broken off something.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3808)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Vasari already compares two lonely figures in a painting to two pieces of eel in a pan, and Tassoni explains that in Lombardy ''tocchi'' are the leftover pieces of bread called ''tozzi'' elsewhere.^(GDLI|20, 1100) Tommaseo records insults such as ''tocco d'asino''.^(DEI|3808) With a following noun the word describes a sturdy young man or a very attractive young woman (''un tocco di ragazza'').^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1329 – Medieval Latin ''tocho terre'' is recorded at Verona.^(DEI|3808)

+ * Before 1698 – Francesco Redi uses ''tocco'' “piece”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1879 – The diminutives ''tocchetto'' and ''tocchettino'' are recorded.^(DEI|3808)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large piece, a [[m|en|chunk]] of something, especially food: ''un tocco di formaggio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Followed by a noun: a big, strong man, or a very attractive woman; also in insults.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tocchetto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[toccare]]

+ * [[tocca]]

+ * [[fr|touche]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two minor words share the spelling.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) ''Tocco'', the round brimless cap of judges, lawyers and university professors, is first recorded in Machiavelli (1525); DELI derives it from [[lng|*tōh|t=cloth]] through Old Italian ''tocca'' “silk cloth”, while Nocentini and Wiktionary take it from [[fr|toque]], itself from Spanish ''toca''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011) The Genoese ''tocco'', a meat sauce, comes from Ligurian ''toccu''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}