Etymologically
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aiuto

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Pronunciation

Forms

aiuto m (plural aiuti)[1] Older forms include Old Italian adiuto, Old Italian agiuto and the southern Old Italian ajutu.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin adiūtus (“help”), an action noun from adiuvō (“to help”), whose past participle has the same form.[3][4][1][5] GRADIT relates it to the frequentative adiūtō, the source of aiutare.[6][2] The other Romance languages use feminine nouns formed from the verb instead: Occitan ajuda, Old French aiude (now French aide), Spanish ayuda and Portuguese ajuda.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio, a text of the Marche from the late 12th century.[2] DELI's first date is before 1249, in Pier della Vigna, for work done on behalf of someone in danger or need.[3] GDLI quotes him: “se da voi, donna mia, aiuto non aggio” (if I have no help from you, my lady).[8]

Semantic evolution

The cry aiuto! is in Boccaccio's Decameron (1348–1353), and the sense “person who helps another in a task or office” in Tuscan proclamations of 1577.[3] DEI records a medieval aiuto for the extraordinary levy the Norman kings demanded in time of need.[9] Modern specialised uses include the plural aiuti for auxiliary troops and for relief supplies, the riding aiuti by which a rider signals to the horse, and the hospital doctor ranking below the head of a department.[6][10][11][12] Before the name of a trade it forms terms such as aiuto regista “assistant director” and aiuto cuoco.[10][11]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The Ritmo di Sant'Alessio has the first record.[2]
  • 1219 – Devoto–Oli's date of first record.[12]
  • Before 1249 – Pier della Vigna uses aiuto “help”.[3][8]
  • 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses aiuto! as a cry.[3]
  • 1577 – Aiuto “assistant” appears in Tuscan proclamations.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. help, assistance given to someone in difficulty or danger: Grazie dell’aiuto con il trasloco.[6][13][10]
  2. Something or someone that helps; financial support; in the plural, relief supplies: Gli aiuti sono arrivati dopo tre giorni.[6][12][10]
  3. An assistant; in hospitals, formerly the doctor below the head of a department; before the name of a job: aiuto cuoco.[6][10][11]
  4. (military, plural) Auxiliary troops.[6][11]
  5. (riding, usually plural) The rider's signals to the horse with hands, legs, weight and voice.[10][12]

Interjection

  1. A cry for help: Aiuto! Non so nuotare![6][13][1]

Word family

  • aiutino

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 25
  6. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  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. 63
  10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse