anìmulu

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• anìmmulu, nìmulu, nìmmulu
• nìmula f

Etymology

From Koine Greek ἀνέμη (anémē, “weasel”) +‎ -ulu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈnimulu/
• Hyphenation: a‧nì‧mu‧lu

Noun

anìmulu m (plural anìmuli)

1. (spinning) swift (wooden tool spun to stretch a skein of yarn)

   jiri comu n'anìmulu

   to keep moving around, go everywhere

   (literally, “to spin like a swift”)

   • 1785 – 1787, Giovanni Meli, Don Chisciotti e Sanciu Panza 7.29:

     […] e la testa cci gira, comu animulu.

     […] and his head was spinning like a swift.

2. chatterbox (talkative person)

   Synonyms: ciàula, carcarazza

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 1507: “l'arcolaio, il guindolo” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
• Traina, Antonino (1868) “anìmulu”, in Nuovo vocabolario Siciliano-Italiano [New Sicilian-Italian vocabulary] (in Italian), Liber Liber, published 2020, page 265
• Pasqualino (c. 1790) “animulu”, in Vocabolario siciliano etimologico, italiano e latino (in Italian), volume 1, pages 102–103