allora

Forms

allora^[1] The shortened form is allor.^[2][1] Old Italian forms include alora, allore, lora and ador.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ad illam hōram (“at that hour”), a phrase of ad (“to, at”), ille (“that”) and hōra (“hour”).^{[4][5][6][1][7]} Nocentini starts instead from the Late Latin ablative phrase illā hōrā (“in that hour”), without the preposition.^[8] Italian ora continues the noun.^[8][9]

The same phrase gave French alors, beside lors, and Nocentini compares Occitan loras and Catalan llavors.^[8][10] Wiktionary also compares Occitan alara.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Breve di Montieri of 1219, in the sense “at that moment”.^[4][5] The TLIO's first attestation is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum of the last quarter of the 12th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Old Italian senses are already those of today: “at that moment, at that time”, da allora (from then on), fino allora (until then), allora allora (just then), and as a conjunction “so, in that case”.^[3] Dante writes “Allor fu la paura un poco queta” (then the fear was a little calmed, Inferno 1).^[11][2]

Zingarelli observes that allora gradually came to be used as an invariable noun meaning “that time” (i giovani di allora), which is why the newer fino ad allora now prevails over the traditional fino allora.^[12] Placed before a noun it works as an adjective: l'allora ministro, the minister at that time.^[5][2] In speech it opens or resumes what one is saying, and on its own it asks for a reply: allora?^[5][6]

Istriot and Molise Croatian borrowed it as alora.^[1]

Timeline

• Last quarter of the 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur use the word.^[3]
• 1219 – Allora “at that moment” in the Breve di Montieri.^[4]
• 1300–1321 – Dante uses the shortened allor.^[11]
• Before 1375 – Allorché “when” is formed with che.^[8]

Meanings

Adverb

1. then, at that moment, at that time, of the past or the future: allora abitavamo in campagna, quando sarai pronto, allora partiremo.^[5][6][13]
2. After a preposition: da allora, fino ad allora, per allora (from then on, until then, for that time).^[5][6]
3. allora allora: just a moment before: era rientrato allora allora.^[5][13]

Adjective

1. (invariable, before a noun) Of that time, then: l'allora sindaco della città.^[5][6][2]

Conjunction

1. so, in that case, therefore: se non ti piace, allora lascialo.^[5][6][2]
2. In questions and exclamations, asking for a decision or an answer: well: allora, che facciamo?^[5][2][14]
3. (colloquial) To begin or resume speaking: allora, dicevo…^[5][6]
4. (mathematics, logic) With se, introducing the consequence: se X allora Y.^[5]

Word family

• allorché

Related words

• ora
• ancora
• Latin hōra
• French alors

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include allora come allora (as things stood at that moment) and e allora? (so what?).^[12][14][5] Allora with an open /ɔ/ is also the name of two varieties of pear.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
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. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh, p. 153
8. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli