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adatto

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word adatto

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1292, Bono Giamboni
Borrowed from
Latin adaptus
Ultimate origin
Latin aptus

Pronunciation

Forms

adatto (feminine adatta, masculine plural adatti, feminine plural adatte, superlative adattissimo)[1] Older forms include Old Italian adacto, adapto and addatto.[2][3] Dialect forms include Sicilian addàggiu and, at Bitonto, Neapolitan addètte.[3]

Etymology

Most dictionaries see it as borrowed from Medieval Latin adaptus (“suited”), formed from ad- and aptus (“fit, suitable”).[4][5][6][7][1] The LEI notes that the Latin adjective is recorded in Gaul in the 7th century and lives on in Old French aate (“fit”); in Italian it is a learned word.[3][8][9] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli explain it instead as the short past participle of adattare, and Devoto saw a cross of the regular participle with atto (“fit”).[10][11][12] Old Occitan adaut or azaut (“graceful, nimble”) is the same word, and the LEI regards the old Italian sense “well made, able” as a calque of the Occitan.[3][9][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Bono Giamboni's translation of Vegetius (before 1292), in the sense “having the right features for a purpose”.[2][10] DELI dates the word to Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294), whose sonnet speaks of a villainous speech that is “shrewd and apt” (accorto e adatto).[14][3]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used adatto of people: able, skilled (sometimes in a bad sense), and of looks, handsome or graceful, said especially of women.[2][4] These senses, close to the Occitan, are now obsolete.[3][7] The general sense “suitable, fit for a purpose” prevailed, with the superlative adattissimo in Boccaccio and Bencivenni, the doubled adatto adatto in Giovan Maria Cecchi (1551), and the negative disadatto from 1427.[3] Tommaseo and Rigutini distinguished atto, having some of the qualities needed, from adatto, having the qualities and the means as well.[15]

Timeline

  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses adatto.[2]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it.[14]
  • 1427 – Disadatto is recorded.[3]
  • 1551 – Giovan Maria Cecchi uses adatto adatto “very suitable”.[3]
  • 1865 – Adattamente and adattezza appear in Tommaseo–Bellini.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. suitable, fit or right for a purpose or a person: Non è il momento adatto per chiederglielo.[4][11][7]
  2. Having an aptitude for something: Non mi sento adatto a questo lavoro.[4][11][16]
  3. (obsolete) Well built, of a body; lively, skilful, of a person.[4][7][2]

Word family

  • inadatto
  • disadatto
  • adattezza
  • adattamente

Usage notes

Adatto takes a or per, also before an infinitive: adatto ai principianti, adatto per viaggiare.[11][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 613
  4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  7. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 55
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  14. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1
  16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Adatto.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/adatto. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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