chiummu

Sicilian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Latin plumbum (lead). Compare Italian piombo and Neapolitan chiummo.

Noun

chiummu m (plural chiummi)

  1. (uncountable) lead (metal)
    caminari cu li pedi di chiummuto proceed with caution (literally, “to walk with lead feet”)
  2. (construction, countable) plumb bob
    fari li cosi cu lu chiummu e lu cumpassuto do things with the utmost care (literally, “to do things with the plumb bob and compass”)
  3. (hunting, uncountable) birdshots
    Synonym: paparina

Derived terms

  • a chiummu
  • acchiummari (to plumb, to use a plumb bob as an aligning tool, verb)
  • botta di chiummu

Descendants

  • Maltese: ċomb

References

  • AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 408: “come il piombo” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
  • Traina, Antonino (1868) “chiummu”, in Nuovo vocabolario Siciliano-Italiano [New Sicilian-Italian vocabulary] (in Italian), Liber Liber, published 2020, page 833
  • Pasqualino (c. 1790) “chiummu”, in Vocabolario siciliano etimologico, italiano e latino (in Italian), volume 1, page 311