cavo Italian · revision 39218

+ Italian has two words spelled ''cavo'': the adjective “hollow”, also a noun “hollow, cavity”, from Latin, and the noun “cable, rope”, a northern form of ''capo'' “head, end”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ {{homograph|1|hollow}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la cavus}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈka.vo/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''cavo''' (feminine cava, masculine plural cavi, feminine plural cave)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective “hollow” is [[inh|la|cavus|t=hollow, concave]], and the noun sense continues its neuter [[m|la|cavum|t=hollow, hole]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[oc|cau]] and [[ca|cau|t=rabbit burrow]], and Logudorese [[m|sc|cau]] is the pith of the elder.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|830)

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+ Latin also had a variant [[m|la|covus]], recorded only by grammarians such as Varro, whose vowel o reappears in [[es|cueva|t=cave]], [[pt|cova|t=cave]], [[m|pt|covo|t=hollow]] and Italian [[covone|t=sheaf]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|13, 682) DEI explains the classical form as remade after the verb [[m|la|cavō|t=to hollow out]].^(DEI|830) Comparison outside Latin supports the o: [[grc|κόοι|tr=kóoi|t=hollows]] in Hesychius and [[sga|cúa|t=hollow]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*kowos|alt=*kowó-]] and [[ine-pro|*ḱowh₁ós|alt=*ḱouH-ó-|t=hollow]], with [[grc|κοῖλος|tr=koîlos|t=hollow]] as a further cognate.^(de Vaan 2008) He explains the Latin a by an unrounding of o before w in a syllable before the accent.^(de Vaan 2008) DELI and Zingarelli call the Latin word of uncertain origin.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is Bono Giamboni's ''Libro de' Vizi e delle Virtudi'', before 1292, and his Italian version of Brunetto Latini's ''Tesoro'' says that the earth ''è tutta cava dentro di luogo in luogo'' “is all hollow inside here and there”, full of veins and caverns.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used it of hollow objects and places, of sunken eyes, of deep valleys and of an empty ship.^(TLIO)^(LEI|13, 682) Petrarch's ''in loco oscuro e cavo'' “in a dark and hollow place” and Dante's souls whose eyes were ''oscura e cava'' “dark and sunken” (''Purgatorio'' 23.22) show the literary adjective.^(GDLI)^(Zingarelli 2010) The anatomical ''vena cava'' is recorded in 1574, and the noun “hollow, concavity” before 1537 (Vannoccio Biringuccio).^(DELI 1999) Today the adjective is mainly literary or technical, while the noun names anatomical cavities.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ The feminine noun ''cava'' “quarry” is in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century, and the verb ''cavare'' “to pull out” in Dante (1304–1308).^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''cavo'' “hollow”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+ * End of the 13th century – ''Cava'' “quarry” appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1537 – Biringuccio uses the noun for a hollow.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1574 – ''Vena cava'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|hollow]], empty inside; concave: ''una canna cava''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' [[m|en|sunken]], of the eyes or cheeks.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' ''vena cava'': either of the two large veins that bring blood to the right atrium of the heart.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

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+ ===Noun===

+ # A hollow, [[m|en|concavity]]: ''il cavo della mano''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' A [[m|en|cavity]] of the body, also a pathological one: ''cavo orale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cava]]

+ * [[cavare]]

+ * [[cavità]]

+ * [[cavatore]]

+ * [[cavatura]]

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+ {{homograph|2|cable}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1311, Anonimo Genovese|origins=la caput}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈka.vo/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''cavo''' ''m'' (plural cavi)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun “cable” is [[bor|lij|cavo|t=head, end]], or [[vec|cao]], the northern outcome of [[la|caput|t=head]] that corresponds to Tuscan [[capo]]: among sailors “the end of the rope” came to mean the rope itself.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) A naval dictionary quoted by DELI rejects a source in a shortened form of [[m|la|capulum|t=halter, rope]] and compares nautical [[cima]] “rope”, literally “top, end”, as a similar figure.^(DELI 1999) The northern word replaced Tuscan [[canapo]] “hawser”.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|261)

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+ DEI leaves the question open between this explanation and [[es|cabo]], from Portuguese [[m|pt|cabo]] and an older [[m|pt|*caboo]] from that Latin noun.^(DEI|830) Meyer-Lübke derives the Italian noun from the Iberian word, and Wiktionary follows him.^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) The same Latin noun gave [[fro|chables|t=cables]] (about 1165), [[fr|câble]] and [[pro|cable]].^(LEI|11, 1002)^(REW 1935)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the ''Anonimo Genovese'', a Genoese poet writing before 1311.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) In Tuscan the word is in Luigi Pulci, before 1470, as a thick rope.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1832 the naval writer Giuseppe Tonello noted that ''corda'' was considered improper on board: all the ship's ropes were called ''cavi'', except the bell rope, which alone was a ''corda''.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The electrical sense, an insulated conductor for current or telegraph signals, is recorded in 1892, with the ''cavo sottomarino'' “submarine cable”.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|261) The diminutive ''cavetto'' is used for a thin electric lead (1956).^(DELI 1999) Modern compounds include ''cavo coassiale'' “coaxial cable” and ''televisione via cavo'' “cable television”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1165 – Old French ''chables'' “cables” is recorded.^(LEI|11, 1002)

+ * Before 1311 – The ''Anonimo Genovese'' uses ''cavo''.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1470 – Luigi Pulci uses it in Tuscan.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1832 – Tonello notes that every rope on board is a ''cavo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1892 – The electrical sense is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1956 – ''Cavetto'' is recorded for an electric lead.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A thick, strong [[m|en|rope]] or [[m|en|cable]] of steel or fibre, for hauling, lifting or mooring: ''Il cavo della gru si è spezzato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(electricity)'' An insulated conductor for electric current or telecommunications: ''Ho perso il cavo del caricabatterie.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cavetto]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[concavo]]

+ * [[covone]]

+ * [[scavare]]

+ * [[capo]]

+ * [[corda]]

+ * [[fune]]

+ * [[la|cavus]]

+ * [[la|capulum]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third, older ''cavo'' meant a headland or promontory (Agnolo Firenzuola, 16th century), from the same Ligurian and Venetian word for “head”.^(DEI|830)^(GDLI) In foundry work ''cavo'' is also the mould into which wax or plaster figures are cast, a noun formed from ''cavare''.^(DEI|830)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}