scimmia
Italian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From earlier scimia, Latin sīmia, from Ancient Greek σῑμός (sīmós, “snub-nosed”). For more examples of initial s- palatalized to sci-, see scialiva, scempio, sciringa (doublet of siringa). Compare Sicilian scìmia.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
scimmia f (plural scimmie, augmentative scimmione)
- monkey, simian
- 1827, Giacomo Leopardi, “La scommessa [The Bet]”, in Operette morali [Small Moral Works][1], Florence: Guglielmo Piatti, published 1834, pages 83–84:
- e meno intendeva per qual destino i tremuoti, i temporali e le piogge avessero avuto a disfare tutti gli uomini del paese, perdonando agli sciaguari, alle scimmie, a' formichieri, a' cerigoni, alle aquile, a' pappagalli, e a cento altre qualità di animali terrestri e volatili
- And [he] understood even less to what end the earthquakes, the storms, and the rains had eliminated all the town's men, sparing the jaguars, the monkeys, the anteaters, the gerygones, the eagles, the parrots, and a hundred more species of terrestrial and flying animals
- 1898, Giosuè Carducci, Rime e ritmi [Rhymes and rhythms][2], collected in Poesie, Nicola Zanichelli, published 1906, page 985:
- Fumavan su la tolda i maccheroni,
Su l’albero le scimmie e i pappagalli
Garrían. Su l’Adria ridea grande il cielo.- The macaroni were steaming on the upper deck, the monkeys and parrots were chattering upon the tree. The great sky smiled upon the Adria.
- 1904, Luigi Pirandello, “10. Acquasantiera e portacenere”, in Il fu Mattia Pascal [The Late Mattia Pascal][3], published 1919, page 140:
- il giorno appresso se la vedeva comparire tutta infronzolata e con certe mossette da scimmia, trasformata di punto in bianco in bambina ingenua e capricciosa
- The following day, she appeared in front of him, all spiffed up, and with monkey-like movements, suddenly turned into a naive and finicky little girl
- (figurative) aper, mimic, imitator
- Synonym: imitatore
- 1959, Indro Montanelli, “Capitolo tredicesimo: Licurgo [Thirteenth Chapter: Lykourgos]”, in Storia dei Greci [History of the Greeks], 39th edition, Milan, published 1973, page 122:
- Bisognerebbe mandarci a visitarlo tutti gli allievi di Hitler e di Stalin, i quali furono a loro volta modeste scimmie di Licurgo, il vero caposcuola dei totalitari
- It [Sparta] should be visited by every disciple of Hitler and Stalin, who in turn were but small apers of Lykourgos, the true founder of totalitarians
- (figurative, regional) drunk (drunken state)
- Synonyms: sbornia, sbronza, ubriacatura
- (slang) (drug) addiction; withdrawal
- Synonym: dipendenza
- avere la scimmia ― to experience withdrawal symptoms (literally, “to have the monkey”)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
scimmia on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia it- scimmia in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
