mucchio Italian · revision 39307

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=1300–1313, Dante|origins=la mutulus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmuk.kjo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mucchio''' ''m'' (plural mucchi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Lucca and Umbria also have a feminine [[mucchia]].^(DEI|2523)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is most probably [[inh|la|mutulus|alt=mūtŭlus|t=projecting stone, modillion]], as DELI, Nocentini and most dictionaries hold, following an explanation of Meyer-Lübke that is still generally accepted.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(GRADIT 2003) The Latin word passed through a syncopated [[la-vul|*mutlus]].^(Wiktionary)^(Körting 1907) Meyer-Lübke thought the sense “heap” easy to explain from “boundary stone” and “pile of stones”.^(REW 1935) The same Latin word gave [[ro|muche|t=edge]], Logudorese [[m|sc|muiu|t=thick trunk]], Gardenese [[m|lld|mudl|t=big haystack]] and [[fro|muel]], and was borrowed as [[eu|mukulu|t=heap]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2523) A derivative is [[ca|molló]], from which come [[es|mojón|t=boundary stone; heap]] and the Sardinian and Emilian forms of the same type.^(REW 1935)

+

+ Other explanations have been put forward.^(DELI 1999) Canello and Storm saw a metathesis of [[la|cumulus|t=heap]], through [[m|la-vul|*muculus]] or through the verb [[ammucchiare]];^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) Salvioni started from [[la|meta|t=cone, turning post]];^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935) Braune proposed a Germanic source, and Maria Giovanna Arcamone takes it up as a Lombardic loan from a Germanic family meaning “to hide away provisions or money”.^(DELI 1999)^(Körting 1907) Meyer-Lübke judged all of these equally unlikely.^(REW 1935) GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti call the origin uncertain or disputed.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The Latin word was a term of architecture, and the OLD and Wiktionary suggest it was taken from Etruscan.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini links it with a pre-Latin root [[m|la|*mutt-]], meaning “mound of earth”, which he also sees in [[motta]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) Through learned channels the same Latin word is the source of [[modiglione]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Dante's ''Inferno'' (1300–1313), where Forlì is the city that had made ''di Franceschi sanguinoso mucchio'' (“a bloody heap of Frenchmen”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|11)^(Nocentini 2010) The sense is a pile of things heaped together, the sense the word still has.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Early writers used the word for the heaps of the dead after a battle, as in the commentary of Guido da Pisa, and for any pile of objects.^(GDLI|11)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The figurative sense “a large amount” is found from the 15th century, in the ''Pataffio''.^(DELI 1999) With an indefinite article the word came to be used as an adverb, ''un mucchio'' “a great deal”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ Tommaseo–Bellini records ''tirare al mucchio'', to shoot without aiming, which survives as ''sparare nel mucchio'', to accuse a whole group without distinction;^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''mettere tutti in un mucchio'' means to lump everyone together.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * Mid-14th century – The verb ''ammucchiare'' appears.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 15th century – The sense “a large amount” appears in the ''Pataffio''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 15th century – The diminutive ''mucchierello'' is used by Pulci.^(DEI|2523)

+ * 17th century – The diminutive ''mucchietto'' is recorded.^(DEI|2523)

+ * 1971 – ''Ammucchiata'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|heap]] or [[m|en|pile]] of things gathered together, usually untidily: ''Sul tavolo c’era un mucchio di giornali vecchi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A large amount or number: ''un mucchio di lavoro'', ''un mucchio di amici''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(colloquial, adverbial)'' ''un mucchio'', a lot, very much: ''Quel film mi è piaciuto un mucchio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(technical)'' A simple kiln made of a heap of material and fuel, formerly used to process ores.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ammucchiare]]

+ * [[ammucchiata]]

+ * [[mucchietto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[motta]]

+ * [[modiglione]]

+ * [[la|mutulus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases: ''a mucchi'', in great quantity, and ''sparare nel mucchio'', to attack a group indiscriminately.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) GRADIT lists two minor words of the same spelling: a regional name of the stingray (from 1958), traced to Late Latin ''būculus'' “young bullock”, and a regional name of the rock rose (''Cistus''), from 1834.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI|11)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}