pioggia Italian · revision 39212

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=ine-pro *pleu-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpjɔd.d͡ʒa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pioggia''' ''f'' (plural piogge)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also wrote [[m|roa-oit|ploggia]], [[m|roa-oit|plogia]], [[m|roa-oit|ploia]], [[m|roa-oit|pluia]] and [[m|roa-oit|piogia]].^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|13) A variant [[piova]] stands beside it.^(DEI|2932)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*ploia|alt=*plŏia]], from [[m|la-vul|*plovia]], which replaced classical [[la|pluvia|t=rain]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The vowel was taken from [[m|la-vul|plovō|alt=plŏvere]], a later form of [[m|la|pluō|t=to rain]] that is recorded from Petronius on and lives on in Romance.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Meyer-Lübke explains the change the same way: by the rules of Latin the classical noun became [[m|la-vul|*pluia]], which the verb then reshaped into the two Vulgar Latin forms; he adds that the details of the sound development are not clear.^(REW 1935)

+

+ The type without ⟨v⟩ is also [[fr|pluie]], [[oc|ploia]], [[fur|ploie]], [[dlm|pluaia]] and [[ro|ploaie]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2932) Ibero-Romance kept the classical form: [[ca|pluja]], [[es|lluvia]] and [[pt|chuva]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2932) The type with ⟨v⟩ survives in the north of Italy, as in [[pms|pioba]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2932) The south mostly says [[acqua]] for rain instead, though DEI notes Sicilian forms such as [[m|scn|chioggia]].^(DEI|2932)

+

+ The Latin noun is the adjective [[m|la|pluvius|t=rainy]] used as a noun, short for a phrase meaning rainy weather or rain water.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968) In spoken Latin it soon pushed out the older word for rain, [[la|imber]]: the Vulgate has the new word 67 times against 33 for the old one, which was left only in [[sc|imbre]], now apparently gone.^(DELI 1999) The verb goes back to [[itc-pro|*plowe-]] and [[ine-pro|*pleu-|t=to swim, float]], also the source of [[grc|πλέω|tr=pléō|t=to sail]]; the step from floating to raining is a metaphor.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest record is ''ploggia'' in the Sicilian poet Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250: ''A l'aire claro ò vista plogia dare'' (“in clear air I have seen rain fall”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|13) The form ''pioggia'' is first found in Percivalle Doria, before 1264.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start the word meant water falling from the clouds in drops, and Dante (1293–1294) already used it for a great quantity of things coming down from above.^(DELI 1999) Dante's ''Purgatorio'' has the rain and wind of the world outside: ''Or le bagna la pioggia e move il vento'' (“now the rain soaks them and the wind moves them”).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The sense “a great number” of anything, not only of falling things, is dated by DELI to Tommaseo's dictionary (1871).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Diminutives appeared over the centuries: ''pioggetta'' in Fra Giordano (14th century), ''pioggiolina'' in Busini (16th century) and ''pioggerella'' in Salvini (before 1729).^(DEI|2932)^(DELI 1999) ''Pioggia d'oro'' was the shower of gold into which Jupiter turned to reach Danaë, recorded as ''piova d'oro'' in the 14th century.^(DEI|2932) In the 20th century the word gained technical uses: in cinema, the streaks seen on a worn film, and the phrases ''pioggia acida'' and ''pioggia radioattiva''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI|13)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini writes ''plogia'' “rain”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|13)

+ * Before 1264 – The form ''pioggia'' appears in Percivalle Doria.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante uses the word for a mass of things falling from above.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – ''Pioggetta'' is used by Fra Giordano, and ''piova d'oro'' names the shower of gold of the Danaë myth.^(DEI|2932)

+ * 16th century – ''Pioggiolina'' is recorded in Busini.^(DEI|2932)

+ * Before 1729 – ''Pioggerella'' appears in Anton Maria Salvini.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1871 – Tommaseo's dictionary records the sense “a great number”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1983 – ''Pioggia acida'' appears in the ''Corriere della Sera''.^(GDLI|13)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|rain]]: water from the clouds that falls to the ground in [[m|en|drop|alt=drops]]: ''Ci siamo riparati dalla pioggia sotto un portico.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(by extension)'' A [[m|en|shower]] of things falling from above together or one after another: ''una pioggia di petali''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A great quantity, an unbroken run of something: ''una pioggia di telefonate''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(cinema)'' Streaks seen when an old or [[m|en|scratch|alt=scratched]] film is projected.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pioggerella]]

+ * [[pioggiolina]]

+ * [[antipioggia]]

+ * [[pioggioso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piovoso]]

+ * [[piovere]]

+ * [[piovigginare]]

+ * [[pioviggine]]

+ * [[piova]]

+ * [[piovano]]

+ * [[piovasco]]

+ * [[la|pluvia]]

+ * [[fr|pluie]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''A pioggia'' means “in a spray” (''irrigazione a pioggia'', sprinkler irrigation) and, figuratively, “spread around without any plan”, of funds or measures handed out indiscriminately.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Fare la pioggia e il bel tempo'' means to lay down the law somewhere.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The GDLI also has a rare old ''pioggia'' “slope”, a variant of [[piaggia]].^(GDLI|13, 397)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}