Etymologically
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accanto

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Pronunciation

  • /akˈkan.to/[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian a + canto2 (“corner, side”), the phrase “a canto” “at the side” written as one word, with the doubled consonant of the preposition.[2][3][4][5] The noun “canto” “corner, side” is Latin canthus (“iron tyre of a wheel”), which Quintilian thought a word from Spain or Africa; the Romance languages show that it also meant “edge, side”.[3][6] DELI takes it from Ancient Greek κανθός (kanthós, “corner of the eye”), of Celtic origin, and Nocentini compares Gaulish “cantem” and Welsh cant (“tyre”) but leaves the direction of borrowing open.[2][3] The same phrase is Ligurian acàntu in Liguria and Emilian acant in Parma.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb acanto “near, at the side” is first recorded in the poems of Chiaro Davanzati (Florence, second half of the 13th century), and the preposition in Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294).[2][7][4] The TLIO also records a sense “afterwards, next in time”.[7]

Semantic evolution

Written as two words, a canto was usual in Machiavelli and Bandello; the joined spelling accanto is found from Ariosto (1516), and DEI says the word came into general use only in the 16th century.[6][8][9] Devoto–Oli dates a canto before 1527 and accanto before 1547.[10] A canto is still a literary variant, and d'accanto or daccanto means “from beside”.[10][11][12]

The word also became an invariable adjective after a noun, as in la casa accanto “the house next door”, and accanto a can mean “in comparison with”.[4][10][13]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses acanto.[2][7]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it as a preposition.[2][4]
  • 1516 – Ariosto writes accanto as one word.[6]
  • Before 1527 – Machiavelli writes a canto.[8][10]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. nearby, beside, at the side: Il bar è qui accanto.[4][10][11]

Preposition

  1. Accanto a: next to, beside: Si è seduta accanto alla finestra.[10][11][5]
  2. (less common) Accanto a: compared with.[13]

Adjective

  1. (invariable, after a noun) Next, adjacent: l'appartamento accanto.[4][10][11]

Word family

  • daccanto
  • canto2
  • cantone
  • cantina

Usage notes

With a personal pronoun the preposition can drop a: restami accanto “stay beside me”.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  6. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 10, 1439
  7. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 21
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli