picciuni

Sicilian

Etymology

From Latin pīpiō, pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pitˈt͡ʃu.ni/, [pɪˈt͡ʃːu.nɪ]
• Rhymes: -unɪ
• Hyphenation: pic‧ciù‧ni

Noun

picciuni m (plural picciuna or picciuni)

1. pigeon

   Synonym: palummu

   A la morti si spinna lu picciuni.

   Someone's will goes into effect once they die.

   (literally, “The feathers of the pigeon are plucked when it died.”)

2. chick (young bird)

   Synonym: puḍḍicinu

3. grown-up bird who still hasn't left its nest, or has just left it

Derived terms

• picciunara
• picciunastru
• picciunazzu
• picciuneḍḍu
• picciunàrisi

Descendants

• → Maltese: beċċun
• → Italian: (surname) Piccione

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 1151: “il piccione; i piccioni” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
• Traina, Antonino (1868), “picciuni”, in Nuovo vocabolario Siciliano-Italiano [New Sicilian-Italian vocabulary] (in Italian), Liber Liber, published 2020, page 3045
• Pasqualino (c. 1790), “picciuni”, in Vocabolario siciliano etimologico, italiano e latino (in Italian), volume 4, page 91
• Mortillaro, Vincenzo (1862), “picciuni”, in Nuovo vocabolario siciliano-italiano (in Italian), page 647