orso Italian · revision 39242

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=last quarter of the 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=ine-pro *h₂ŕ̥tḱos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈor.so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''orso''' ''m'' (plural orsi, feminine orsa)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also wrote [[m|roa-oit|urso]] and [[m|roa-oit|ursu]].^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|ursus|t=bear]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is panromance: [[fr|ours]], [[oc|ors]], [[ca|os]], [[es|oso]], [[pt|urso]], [[sc|ursu]] and [[ro|urs]], with feminines beside them as Italian has [[orsa]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin word continues the Indo-European name of the animal, [[ine-pro|*h₂ŕ̥tḱos]], which also gave [[sa|ऋक्ष|tr=ṛ́kṣa]], [[grc|ἄρκτος|tr=árktos]], [[sga|art]] and [[hit|hartakka-]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) In the Germanic, Baltic and Slavic languages, where the bear was feared, the old name was replaced by taboo words, and it survived only at the edges of the Indo-European area.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The cluster ⟨-rs-⟩ is the regular outcome of the old ⟨*-rtḱ-⟩, but the initial ⟨u-⟩ is not: one explanation is analogy with [[m|la|urcō|t=to roar]], and de Vaan thinks a taboo distortion of the word is more likely.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) DEI suggests that the Latin form came from a dialect, recalling a tradition that gave the word a Lucanian origin.^(DEI|2682)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', of the last quarter of the 12th century, where ''orso'' is the animal.^(TLIO) DELI's first record is the ''Novellino'', at the end of the 13th century.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian texts compare people to the bear, as in the phrase ''pigro come l'orso'' “lazy as a bear”, and they speak of its growl; the word also named the Great Bear in the sky.^(TLIO) The names of the two constellations, ''Orsa maggiore'' and ''Orsa minore'', go back to Latin, which imitated the Greek name “the bears”;^(DELI 1999) Dante has ''Orsa'' in this sense before 1321.^(DELI 1999) Boccaccio describes a festival where someone leads a man dressed up as a bear.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The figurative senses came later: a clumsy, awkward person from 1585, in Giovan Maria Cecchi, and a gruff, unsociable one from 1862, in Guerrazzi, though Annibal Caro had already used the feminine as an adjective before 1566.^(DELI 1999) The diminutive [[orsacchiotto]] is recorded from the early 17th century, and the stuffed toy bear given to children from 1958.^(DELI 1999) In finance ''orso'' is a calque of English ''bear'', a speculator who expects prices to fall.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) A rough stone used to scrub floors, especially those of bathhouses, was also called ''orso'', after the bear's coarse fur; this sense is now obsolete.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Last quarter of the 12th century – ''Orso'' appears in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur''.^(TLIO)

+ * End of the 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses the word.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''Orsa'' for the constellation.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1585 – Giovan Maria Cecchi uses ''orso'' for a clumsy person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1605–1613 – Alessandro Allegri has the diminutive ''orsacchiotto''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1862 – Guerrazzi uses ''orso'' for an unsociable person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1958 – ''Orsacchiotto'' is recorded for a teddy bear.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(zoology)'' A [[m|en|bear]]: any of the large, heavy-bodied mammals of the family Ursidae, with thick fur, short legs and strong claws: ''orso bruno'', ''orso bianco'' (brown bear, polar bear).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A gruff, unsociable person: ''Mio zio è un orso, non vuole mai vedere nessuno.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A clumsy, awkward person: ''Sulla pista da ballo sembra un orso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(finance)'' A bear market, or a speculator who sells in the expectation of falling prices.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' A stone with a rough surface used for scrubbing floors.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[orsa]]

+ * [[orsacchiotto]]

+ * [[orsetto]]

+ * [[orsatto]]

+ * [[orsaggine]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|ursus]]

+ * [[fr|ours]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''vendere la pelle dell'orso prima di averlo ammazzato'' “to sell the bear's skin before killing it” means counting on something one does not yet have.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) In the language of the stock market ''orso'' is the opposite of ''toro'' “bull”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}