boccale

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian boccale. Doublet of bocal and pokal.

Noun

boccale (plural boccales or boccali)

  1. (historical) A unit of volume formerly used in Italy, varying by region.
    • 2025 July 10, Lowis D'Aguilar Jackson, Modern Metrology. A Manual of the Metrical Units and Systems of the Present Century with an Apendix Containing a Proposed English System[1], BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, page 146:
      Proceeding to the small commercial liquid-measures devised to meet convenience in the retail sale of liquids, ale, beer, wine, oil, and honey, there is a marked accordance among the whole of the quarts, pots, mass, and crushka of Northern Europe, and the boccale and bozze of Southern Europe; []

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bokˈka.le/
  • Rhymes: -ale
  • Hyphenation: boc‧cà‧le

Etymology 1

bocca (mouth) +‎ -ale (-al, relational adjective suffix)

Adjective

boccale m or f (plural boccali)

  1. oral, mouth (attributive)

Etymology 2

From a crossing of bocca (mouth) with Late Latin baucālis, from Koine Greek βαύκαλις (baúkalis, container used for the cooling of wine); probably of Berber[1] or Egyptian origin.[2]

Noun

boccale m (plural boccali)

  1. a serving vessel:
    1. jug
    2. stein
  2. a quantity of liquid held by such a vessel:
    1. jugful
    2. steinful
  3. (historical) a unit of measure for volume used in Italy, with different values according to the area
  4. (northern Italy) urinal
Descendants
  • Middle Dutch: bocael
  • French: bocal
  • German: Pokal (see there for further descendants)
  • Greek: μπουκάλι (boukáli)
  • Hungarian: bokály
  • Ottoman Turkish: پوتقال
    • Turkish: potkal

References

  • boccale1 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
  • boccale2 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
  1. ^ Varia Africana. (1918). United States: African Department of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, p. 303
  2. ^ Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN