Etymograph

English

cassone

Cassone comes from Italian cassone ‘augmentative of cassa’, from cassa ‘case, crate, trunk’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti1‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjō2‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapsos2reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsa3‘a box, case, holder, repository’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcassa4‘case, crate, trunk’
  7. Italianc. 1300–presentcassone5‘augmentative of cassa’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1890cassone5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin capsa
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Italian cassa
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Italian cassone
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English cassone
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray: “There was the huge Italian cassone, with its fantastically…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjōreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyétiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjō‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjōWiktionary, Latin capsa‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapsosWiktionary, Latin capsareconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsaWiktionary, Italian cassa‘a box, case, holder, repository’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcassaWiktionary, Italian cassone‘case, crate, trunk’
  7. Italianc. 1300–presentcassoneWiktionary, English cassone‘augmentative of cassa’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1890cassoneWiktionary, English cassone. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray: “There was the huge Italian cassone, with its fantastically…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kap-

had, head, except, heavy, capital, behavior, captain, chapter, catch, achieve, heavily, capacity, escape, chef, acceptance, haven, occupation, cape, chapel, behave, cattle, cabin, hawk, capitol, capita, precipitation, captive, chaplain, captivity, mischief, conceive, mischievous, cad, conceivable, haves, chieftain, precipitate, capillary, occipital, acceptability, 137 more

through Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti ‘to be grasping’

acceptable, heave, heaving, heft, imperceptible, 26 more

through Proto-Italic *kapjō ‘to take, to seize’

accept, receive, capable, cable, recipe, capture, reception, perception, recipient, anticipate, susceptible, anticipation, deception, deceive, deceptive, caption, cater, deceit, receivable, preoccupation, perceptible, preceptor, sashay, 27 more

through Proto-Italic *kapsos

cashier, 2 more

through Latin capsa ‘a box, case, holder, repository’

case, cash, chase, capsule, chassis, cassette, casket, kas, cajon, chasse, 3 more

Today it means

noun A highly-decorated traditional Italian dowry chest.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cassone”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *kapjō, Latin capsa, Italian cassa, Italian cassone. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kap- / cassone

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