scopare Italian · revision 39111

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 13th century, Uguccione da Lodi|origins=la scōpae}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /skoˈpa.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scopare''' (first-person singular present scópo, first-person singular past historic scopài, past participle scopàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include [[m|roa-oit|schopare]] and northern [[m|roa-oit|scovare]] and [[m|roa-oit|scoare]].^(TLIO) The GDLI also lists old ''scoppare''.^(GDLI|18, 198)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|scōpō|t=to sweep]], formed from [[m|la|scōpae|t=twigs; broom]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary)^(TLIO) The verb survives across the Romance languages: [[sc|iscobare]], [[fro|escover]], [[es|escobar]] and [[pt|escovar]];^(REW 1935) Meyer-Lübke notes that it displaced [[la|verrō|t=to sweep]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin plural [[m|la|scōpae]] first meant the branches of a plant, tied together to make a broom.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*skōp-ā-]] and compares [[grc|σκᾶπος|tr=skâpos|t=stick]] and Latin [[m|la|scāpus|t=stalk, shaft]], perhaps by ablaut of a root [[ine-pro|*sk(e/o)h₂p-]], though no such verbal root is attested and the words may be loans.^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini assigns [[scopa]] to the pre-Latin substrate, its first sense being a shrub, the heather used for brooms.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The sexual sense began in Rome: DELI and Nocentini call it a Romanesco word, found in a Florentine–Romanesco glossary of the late 17th century and in G. G. Belli in 1831.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Nocentini compares metaphors such as “to dust off” and “to remove the rust”.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Cremonese poet Uguccione da Lodi, early in the 13th century.^(TLIO) In the oldest texts the verb means to beat with a whip or scourge, also as a public punishment in which the condemned was lashed along a route;^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) DELI finds this use in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) Boccaccio has a lady threatened that she will be ''scopata'' (flogged) if she makes any more noise.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to sweep” is recorded in the 14th century in a life of Saint Francis, who went about preaching and ''scopando le ecclesie'' (sweeping the churches).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|18, 198)^(TLIO) The TLIO also records a figurative sense, to scour a territory in search of something.^(TLIO)

+

+ The sexual sense spread from Rome: Zingarelli entered it in 1922 as a Romanesco word, and ''scopata'' for intercourse was noted by Panzini in 1923 as slang of Rome.^(DELI 1999) Treccani observes that because this sense now prevails, ''spazzare'' and similar verbs often replace ''scopare'' in the sense of sweeping.^(Treccani 2011) In curling the verb is used for sweeping the ice in front of the stone.^(GDLI|18, 198)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the verb.^(TLIO)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses it for beating with a broom or whip.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The sense “to sweep” appears in a life of Saint Francis.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * 1550 – ''Scopata'' is recorded for a blow with a broom.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 17th century – The sexual sense appears in a Florentine–Romanesco glossary.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1831 – Belli writes ''scopà'' in Romanesco.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1922 – Zingarelli records the sexual sense as Romanesco.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|sweep]] with a [[scopa|alt=broom]]; also without an object: ''Prima di cena scopo la cucina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative, uncommon)'' To clear away, eat up everything: ''I ragazzi hanno scopato tutta la torta.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' To have [[m|en|sex]] with someone; also intransitive, to have sex.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(historical)'' In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, to [[m|en|flog]] publicly with a scourge of broom twigs; also to whip.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(sport)'' In [[m|en|curling]], to sweep the ice in front of the stone.^(GDLI|18, 198)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scopata]]

+ * [[scopatore]]

+ * [[scopatura]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scopa]]

+ * [[spazzare]]

+ * [[la|scōpae]]

+ * [[es|escobar]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Because of the vulgar sense, which Sabatini–Coletti calls Romanesco in origin, ''spazzare'' is often preferred for sweeping.^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}