tomba Italian · revision 39273

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1300–1313, Dante|origins=grc τύμβος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtom.ba/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tomba''' ''f'' (plural tombe)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old form is [[roa-oit|tomma]], used by Cecco d'Ascoli and the ''Anonimo romano''.^(GDLI|21)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|tumba]], a late word (4th century, Prudentius) that Christian writers took from [[grc|τύμβος|tr=túmbos|t=burial mound]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Greek word is old, used since Homer, and of unclear origin; it first meant the mound of earth heaped over a grave, while [[m|grc|τάφος|tr=táphos]] was the grave dug in the ground.^(DELI 1999) Zingarelli derives the Latin word from a variant [[m|grc|τύμβα|tr=túmba]].^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ The same word is found across the Romance languages: [[fr|tombe]], [[oc|tomba]], [[ca|tomba]] “coffin”, [[es|tumba]], [[pt|tumba]], [[sc|tumba]] and [[rup|tumbă]] “mound”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) In [[fur|tumbe]] it means a small hill.^(REW 1935)^(Prati 1951|997)

+

+ Nocentini puts the Greek noun in the same family as [[la|tumulus|t=mound; grave]].^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary traces it, probably, to [[ine-pro|*tewh₂-|t=to swell]].^(Wiktionary) G. G. Nicholson proposed instead a Latin verb [[la-vul|*tumbō]] from [[m|la|turbinō]], but DELI finds this no more convincing.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Dante's ''Inferno'' (1300–1313), for a place of burial: “Ciascun rivederà la sua trista tomba, / ripiglierà sua carne e sua figura” (“each will see again his sad tomb and take back his flesh and his shape”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|21)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Boccaccio uses the word for a cave used as a prison (1348–1353), an Amiata document of 1367 for an underground vault, and Franco Sacchetti, before 1400, for a low, dark dwelling.^(DELI 1999) The hydraulic sense, a vaulted culvert under a canal, gave the northern ''tombìn'', the source of [[tombino]], a drain cover; [[tombarolo]], a robber of ancient tombs, is a Roman formation of 1963, and [[tombale]] follows French ''pierre tombale''.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|997)

+

+ Modern figurative uses rest on the tomb as the place of silence and death: ''essere una tomba'' or ''muto come una tomba'' is said of someone who keeps a secret, ''avere un piede nella tomba'' of someone near death, and ''dalla culla alla tomba'' means “from birth to death”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) German has borrowed ''Tomba'' for an Etruscan tomb.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses ''tomba'' in the ''Inferno''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for a cave used as a prison.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1367 – An Amiata document uses it for an underground vault.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses it for a dark dwelling.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1883 – ''Tombino'' is recorded in the sense “drain”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1900 – ''Tombale'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1963 – ''Tombarolo'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|tomb]], [[m|en|grave]]: a place or structure for the burial of one or more bodies: ''Ogni domenica porta dei fiori sulla tomba del nonno.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person who can keep a secret: ''Puoi dirmelo, sono una tomba.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Death: ''dalla culla alla tomba''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A cramped, dark, gloomy room or dwelling: ''Quel seminterrato è una tomba.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|cave]]; an underground vaulted channel for water.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tombale]]

+ * [[tombarolo]]

+ * [[tombino]]

+ * [[oltretomba]]

+ * [[intombare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tumulo]]

+ * [[fr|tombe]]

+ * [[la|tumba]]

+ * [[grc|τύμβος|tr=túmbos]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Silenzio di tomba'' is absolute silence, and ''rivoltarsi nella tomba'', said of a dead person, is “to turn in one's grave”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The GDLI gives a separate ''tomba'' for the Old Italian senses “mound, ridge” (Dante's ''Inferno'' 19) and “medieval estate with its houses”, from Medieval Latin ''tumba'' (Ravenna, 970), itself the same late Latin word.^(GDLI|21)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}