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affitto

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word affitto

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1274–1284, Florentine document
Ultimate origin
Latin fīgō

Pronunciation

  • /afˈfit.to/[1]

Forms

affitto m (plural affitti)[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from affittare “to let”, which was formed from fitto “rent”.[2][3][4] Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Wiktionary instead take it from Medieval Latin affictum, the noun of affictō (“to let”).[5][6][7][1] The Latin noun is recorded in the Venetian lagoon in 1194, and the verb at Parma in 1255.[2]

The base noun ⟨fitto⟩ comes from a phrase meaning “a fixed rent”, and is Vulgar Latin fīctus (“fixed”), a past participle of Latin fīgō (“to fix, fasten”) used in place of classical fīxus.[2][5][3] The noun Medieval Latin fictum for rent is recorded at Bobbio in the 10th century.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Italian record is a Florentine document of 1274–1284, a book of farm accounts, where affitto is the lease of land and the rent due for it.[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its legal sense since the Middle Ages, for both the contract and the payment.[2][3] The verb affittare meant “to let” from the early 14th century; its use for “to rent, take on lease” was criticised as a vulgarism in 1866 by Rigutini, who had read it in a Florentine newspaper.[2] The shorter fitto is older, from 1240 in Arezzo, and Tuscan fittaiolo was the word for a tenant farmer where Lombard has fittavolo.[4][2]

In modern law affitto is the lease of a productive asset, such as a farm or a business, while locazione is the general term; in everyday use the word covers renting a flat and hiring a car or boat.[3][8][6] Newer phrases include lavoro in affitto, temporary agency work, and madre in affitto, a surrogate mother.[6][8]

Timeline

  • 10th century – Medieval Latin fictum “rent” is recorded at Bobbio.[2]
  • 1194 – Medieval Latin affictus is recorded in the Venetian lagoon.[2]
  • 1240 – Fitto “rent” appears in a document from Arezzo.[4]
  • 1274–1284 – Affitto appears in a Florentine document.[4][5]
  • 1294 – The verb affittare appears in a Sienese document.[4]
  • 1866 – Rigutini condemns affittare in the sense “to rent”.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. lease, renting: a contract by which an owner lets another person use a property for a time and a payment: Hanno preso in affitto una casa al mare.[3][6][9][7][1]
  2. rent: the sum paid for this: L'affitto si paga il primo del mese.[3][6][9][8][1]
  3. Hire of a movable thing: l'affitto di un furgone.[3][6][7]
  4. (law) A lease of a productive asset, such as a farm or a business, whose use and income pass to the tenant for a fee.[3][6][8]

Word family

  • subaffitto
  • affittare
  • affittavolo
  • affittuario
  • fitto
  • affittacamere

Usage notes

Near synonyms are locazione, pigione (for a house) and nolo (for movable things).[9][8] A rare, separate Old Italian affitto is an adjective, “fixed, pierced; afflicted”, from the verb affiggere;[4][10][8] Guittone d'Arezzo uses it before 1294.[4][10][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 1226
Cite this entry

“Affitto.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/affitto. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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