disco Italian · revision 39362

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1333, Arrigo Simintendi|origins=grc δίσκος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈdis.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''disco''' ''m'' (plural dischi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|discus|t=quoit; dish]], from [[grc|δίσκος|tr=dískos|t=quoit]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The popular outcome of the same Latin word is [[desco]], once a table or board.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Inherited descendants of the Latin noun in the sense “flat dish” are also [[fro|dois]] and [[pro|desc]].^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) The learned word is [[fr|disque]], recorded from 1556, and [[es|disco]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1329)

+

+ The Greek noun is usually derived from [[m|grc|δικεῖν|tr=dikeîn|t=to throw]], a verb of uncertain origin.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wikizionario) DEI reconstructs a form with the suffix ⟨-sko-⟩ and compares [[m|grc|δίκτυον|tr=díktuon|t=net]], as the net that is cast.^(DEI|1329)

+

+ Some senses came from other languages: the anatomical disc is probably a calque of the French word, used so from 1852, and [[disco volante|t=flying saucer]] is a calque of [[en|flying saucer]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Tuscan of Arrigo Simintendi, before 1333, where the word names the flat round object thrown in contests; the same texts also have the popular form ''desco'' in this sense, and the phrase ''giocare al desco'', to compete at throwing the discus.^(TLIO) DELI and GRADIT date the discus to 1551, in Bernardo Segni.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century the word took on the general sense of a flat circular body: Galileo uses it in 1612, and speaks of the ''disco solare'', the visible face of the sun.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The 19th century added technical senses: the railway signal turned on an axis (1858), and the fibrous ring between two joints in anatomy (1892).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The gramophone record is first recorded in an advertisement of 1904, and, from it came the figurative ''il solito disco'', the same tiresome talk, and ''cambiare disco'', to change the subject.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The 20th century brought the magnetic and optical discs of computing (''disco rigido'', the hard disk) and the ''disco orario'', the parking disc.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) From ''disco'' came ''discoteca'' (1927), formed on the model of ''biblioteca'' as a collection of records and later the dance club, and ''discografia'' (1963).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1333 – Arrigo Simintendi uses the word for the discus.^(TLIO)

+ * 1551 – Bernardo Segni writes of the game of the discus.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * 1612 – Galileo uses ''disco'' for a flat circular body.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1858 – ''Dischi-segnali'', railway disc signals, are recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1892 – The anatomical sense, the disc between two joints, appears.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1904 – ''Disco'' names a gramophone record in an advertisement.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1927 – ''Discoteca'', a record collection, is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any flat, circular object; also the apparent [[m|en|disc]] of the sun, moon or a planet: ''Ho ritagliato un disco di cartone per la base della torta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(athletics)'' The [[m|en|discus]], and the discus throw; also the puck in ice hockey and each of the plates on a weightlifting bar.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A gramophone [[m|en|record]], and the music recorded on it, an album: ''Hanno appena inciso il loro secondo disco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A tiresome, repeated speech, in ''il solito disco'' and ''cambiare disco''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(computing)'' A magnetic or optical storage disk: ''disco rigido'', the hard disk.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' A disc of fibrous cartilage between two vertebrae.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(railways, historical)'' A disc signal showing whether the line is clear.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[discobolo]]

+ * [[discofilo]]

+ * [[discografia]]

+ * [[discografico]]

+ * [[discoidale]]

+ * [[discoide]]

+ * [[discoteca]]

+ * [[discotecario]]

+ * [[discale]]

+ * [[dischetto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[discolibro]]

+ * [[desco]]

+ * [[la|discus]]

+ * [[fr|disque]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Disco'' is also an invariable feminine noun, short for ''discoteca'' (the club) and for disco music: ''andare in disco''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Sabatini–Coletti dates it to 1975, and Treccani explains it as a clipping of French ''discothèque''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) ''Disco volante'' is a flying saucer.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}