spazzatura Italian · revision 39361

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1292|origins=la spatium}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /spat.t͡saˈtu.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spazzatura''' ''f'' (plural spazzature)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|spazzare|-tura|t1=to sweep]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The form [[la-med|spazatura]] is recorded at Bologna in 1252, before the Italian word.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ DELI derives it from [[la-lat|spatiō]], a variant of the deponent [[la|spatior|t=to walk about; to spread out]], from [[m|la|spatium|t=space]];^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary also takes it from the Latin verb.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini forms it in Italian from [[roa-oit|spazzo|t=floor]], the popular outcome of the same noun, with the sense “to clear the floor”.^(Nocentini 2010) The learned [[spaziare]] and [[spazio]] continue the same Latin words.^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to before 1292.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI's first certain record is Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' (1353), with the sense “what is swept up”; the older record from the sermons of Giordano da Pisa, given in the Crusca dictionaries, cannot be checked.^(DELI 1999) Boccaccio's line is ''un che va ricogliendo la spazzatura da santa Maria a Verzaia'', “a man who goes round gathering the sweepings from Santa Maria a Verzaia”.^(GDLI|19, 758)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word kept its sense of house and street sweepings through the centuries, from Franco Sacchetti and Vespasiano da Bisticci to Verga and D'Annunzio, and widened to refuse of every kind.^(GDLI|19, 758) The old texts have forms such as ''spazadura'' and ''spazzadura''.^(GDLI|19, 758) The action of sweeping itself is recorded only in 1873, in Tommaseo's dictionary, and is now uncommon.^(DELI 1999)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ Figuratively, ''spazzatura'' is anything worthless, and contemptuously people treated as worthless.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) Placed after a noun as an invariable adjective (''tv spazzatura'', ''cibo spazzatura'') it renders English ''trash'' and ''junk''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The street sweeper is a ''spazzino'' (1632), and the motor sweeper a ''spazzatrice'' (1916).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1252 – Medieval Latin ''spazatura'' is recorded at Bologna.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – First record of the Italian word, according to GRADIT.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' uses ''spazzatura'' for sweepings.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1873 – The sense “act of sweeping” appears in Tommaseo's dictionary.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|rubbish]], [[m|en|garbage]]: dirt that is swept up, and household waste in general: ''Chi porta giù la spazzatura stasera?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative, derogatory)'' Worthless stuff; also people regarded as contemptible: ''Quel giornale scrive solo spazzatura.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' The act of sweeping, especially of streets.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable, after a noun)'' Of very poor quality, [[m|en|trashy]]: ''tv spazzatura'', ''cibo spazzatura'' (junk food).^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spazzaturaio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spazzata]]

+ * [[spazzatore]]

+ * [[spazzatrice]]

+ * [[spazzino]]

+ * [[spazzare]]

+ * [[spazio]]

+ * [[la|spatium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}