puzza Italian · revision 39178

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=second half of the 13th century|origins=la pūteō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈput.t͡sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''puzza''' ''f'' (plural puzze)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[m|roa-oit|puza]], [[m|roa-oit|pussa]] and [[m|roa-oit|pueza]].^(GDLI) Zingarelli also gives an obsolete northern [[spuzza]].^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*putia]] according to Nocentini and Devoto–Oli, a noun formed on [[la|pūteō|t=to stink]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Devoto 1968) GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti treat it instead as a variant of the masculine [[puzzo]], which goes back to [[m|la-vul|*pūtium]] from the same verb.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The feminine is recorded early in the Medieval Latin of Venice, as ⟨pucia⟩ in 1227.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) C. Merlo explained the masculine from the first person singular ⟨puteo⟩ of the Latin verb.^(DELI 1999) Wiktionary suggests a third source, a shortening of Latin [[m|la|pūtidus|t=stinking]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ DEI notes that the masculine and the feminine are mainly central and northern Italian, while the south uses words from [[m|la|fētor]] and [[m|la|fēteō]].^(DEI|3161) The Latin verb, which also gave Italian [[putire]], has the same root as [[m|la|pūs|t=pus]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Its Romance outcomes are [[fr|puer]], [[oc|pudir]], [[ca|pudir]], [[sc|pudire]] and [[ro|puți]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Nocentini dates the word to the second half of the 13th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) Iacopone da Todi has it in a list of foul smells: ''Tutta puza che nel mondo fusse, ensemora adunata'' “all the stench there might be in the world, gathered together”.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''puzza'' meant a bad smell, and DELI records the sense “filth” in Giordano da Pisa in 1305–06.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) The GDLI and Tommaseo also give the sense “pus, corrupt matter in a sore”, probably through association with Latin [[m|la|pūs]].^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ In the standard language ''puzzo'' has remained the usual word, and the dictionaries mark ''puzza'' as literary or regional, especially northern.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) In colloquial use it can mean a fart.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The figurative phrase ''avere la puzza sotto il naso'' describes a haughty, disdainful person.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1227 – Medieval Latin ⟨pucia⟩ is recorded at Venice.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Second half of the 13th century – ''Puzza'' is first recorded in Italian.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses ''puzza'' for “filth”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1437 – Medieval Latin ''puzola'', the polecat named after its smell, appears at Cividale.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|stink]], [[m|en|stench]], bad smell: ''In cantina c'era una puzza di muffa insopportabile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A [[m|en|fart]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Pus, corrupt matter in a sore.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[puzzola]]

+ * [[impuzzolire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[puzzo]]

+ * [[puzzare]]

+ * [[puzzolente]]

+ * [[putire]]

+ * [[la|pūteō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Avere la puzza sotto il naso'' or ''al naso'' means to be stuck-up, to look down on others.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) ''Puzza di bruciato'', literally “a smell of burning”, is said when something seems suspicious.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ An unrelated old Tuscan ''puzza'' meant “chaff” and “a speck, a tiny fragment”; the GDLI compares it with [[puccia]].^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}