petto Italian · revision 39359

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpɛt.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''petto''' ''m'' (plural petti, diminutive pettino, augmentative pettóne, pejorative pettàccio, derogatory pettùccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ The old plural was feminine, ''le pèttora''.^(DEI|2885)^(Treccani 2011)

+ Old and dialect forms include [[m|roa-oit|pecto]], [[m|roa-oit|peito]] and [[m|roa-oit|peto]].^(GDLI|13, 215)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|pectus|t=breast, chest]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is panromance: [[fro|piz]], [[pro|peitz]], [[ca|pit]], [[es|pecho]], [[pt|peito]], [[sc|pettus]] and [[ro|piept]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) The sense “udder, breasts” in parts of France and northern Italy has been explained as a calque of [[xtg|*bronno-]], which meant belly, breast and udder.^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2885)

+

+ The Latin noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*pektos-]]; de Vaan finds a likely cognate in [[sga|ucht|t=breast]], if its vowel goes back to an older ⟨e⟩, and rejects the old links with Tocharian and Sanskrit.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini, DEI and Devoto connect it with [[m|la|pectō|t=to comb]], so that the breast would be the hairy part of the body.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2885)^(Devoto 1968) The Latin cluster ⟨-ct-⟩ became ⟨-tt-⟩, as in [[latte]] and [[notte]].^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, with the sense “front of the chest”: ''Co madonna sta lo core, / che de lo meo petto è fore'', “my heart dwells with my lady, for it has left my breast”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|13, 215)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Within a century the word covered the organs of the chest, especially the lungs (Bono Giamboni, before 1292), the breast of an animal (Giamboni), a woman's breast (1310) and, in Dino Compagni (1310–1312), the front of anything.^(DELI 1999) The breast meat of fowl is in a 14th-century cookery treatise: ''Tolli petti di polli'', “take chicken breasts”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DELI 1999) The part of a garment over the chest is recorded from 1804.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ From the 14th century ''petto'' was also the seat of feelings, and, from the 16th courage.^(DEI|2885) ''Avere in petto'', to keep a decision to oneself, is in Paolo Segneri in the 17th century, and the adverbial ''in petto'' passed unchanged into English (1674) and French (1745).^(DEI|2885) It is also used in German and Dutch.^(Wiktionary) In music the ''do di petto'' is the tenor's high C, sung in chest voice.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) Common phrases are ''prendere di petto'' (to tackle head-on) and ''battersi il petto'' (to beat one's breast in remorse).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Spanish [[m|es|peto|t=breastplate]] is borrowed from Italian, and so is the French word for a parapet, through [[parapetto]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2885) The robin, ''pettirosso'', is named for its red breast; a man called Petirosso is recorded at Venice in 1312.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''petto''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for the lungs and for an animal's breast.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1310 – The sense “woman's breast” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses ''pettoruto'', puffed-out.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1674 – English borrows the phrase ''in petto''.^(DEI|2885)

+ * 1745 – French borrows ''in petto''.^(DEI|2885)

+ * 1804 – ''Petto'' names the part of a garment over the chest.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|chest]], the front of the body between neck and abdomen: ''Il proiettile lo ha colpito in pieno petto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The organs inside the chest, especially heart and lungs: ''malato di petto'', consumptive.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A woman's [[m|en|breast]] or breasts, the bosom: ''Teneva il neonato stretto al petto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The breast of an animal; as food, breast meat of fowl and the brisket of beef: ''petto di pollo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The front part of a garment over the chest; each front panel of a jacket: ''una giacca a un petto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The heart, as the seat of feelings; courage: ''tenere in petto'', to keep to oneself.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(historical)'' The [[m|en|breastplate]] of a suit of armour.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pettirosso]]

+ * [[pettorale]]

+ * [[pettoruto]]

+ * [[pettorina]]

+ * [[pettino]]

+ * [[pettiera]]

+ * [[impettito]]

+ * [[impettirsi]]

+ * [[doppiopetto]]

+ * [[parapetto]]

+ * [[rimpetto]]

+ * [[dirimpetto]]

+ * [[dirimpettaio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[espettorare]]

+ * [[pettine]]

+ * [[la|pectus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In GRADIT ''petto'' is also listed as a variant of ''peto'', a fart.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|13, 215) ''In petto'' is used of a cardinal named by the pope but not yet announced;^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|2885) English also has the phrase.^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|2885)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}