alquanto

Forms

alquanto (feminine alquanta, masculine plural alquanti, feminine plural alquante)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian alquando and Old Italian arquanto.^[2] The LEI records Old Venetian alguante and arquanti and Old Sicilian aliquantu.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin aliquantus (“a certain amount of”), with the adverb from aliquantum and aliquantō.^{[5][6][7][1][8]} The LEI treats the common forms as inherited and some written forms of the first centuries as learned, for reasons of sound.^[3] It is formed from Latin ali- + quantus (“how much”), formed like aliquis (“someone”); ali- is related to alius (“other”).^{[5][6][9][10][4]}

The same Latin word is Old French alquant (with auquant), Old Occitan alcan and Old Spanish alguanto.^[6][11][3] The mathematical use is probably a later scientific loan from French partie aliquante.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record of the adverb is in Andrea da Grosseto, 1268, from Tuscany, meaning “more than a little”; the indefinite adjective and pronoun are found in the Lombard Istoria of the Pseudo-Uguccione, from the first half of the 13th century.^[2] DELI's first dates for both are in Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the plural alquanti meant “some, several” of people as well as of things, and the singular was used with a partitive: Boccaccio revives someone “with a little good wine” (con alquanto di buon vino).^[3][8] Dante has alquanto as an adverb, “for a while, a little”.^[8][12]

The adjective and pronoun are now literary.^[13][14] The adverb is still common, meaning “rather, quite”, often before an adjective (alquanto difficile).^[7][13][15] The use for “very much” was condemned as an error by Gherardini, and Migliorini noted in 1950 that it was frequent at Naples.^[5]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – The Pseudo-Uguccione uses alquanto as an indefinite.^[2]
• 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses alquanto as an adverb.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it as adjective, pronoun and adverb.^[5]
• 1950 – Migliorini notes the Neapolitan use of alquanto for “very”.^[5]

Meanings

Determiner

1. (literary) Some, a certain amount or number of, not small: Ci volle alquanto tempo per convincerlo.^{[7][13][15][14]}

Pronoun

1. (literary, chiefly plural) some, a certain number, of people or things already named: Dei suoi libri ne ho letti alquanti.^{[7][13][15][16]}
2. (archaic, singular) A certain amount of something: alquanto di, a little of.^[16][8]

Adverb

1. rather, somewhat, quite a lot: Oggi il mare è alquanto mosso.^{[7][13][15][16]}
2. (literary) For a while: Si fermarono alquanto a riposare.^[8][12]

Word family

• alquantuno

Related words

• quanto
• alcuno
• altro
• Latin aliquantus

Usage notes

As a determiner and pronoun alquanto agrees with its noun (alquanta, alquanti, alquante); as an adverb it is invariable.^[1][15] The use for “very” is regional.^[5]

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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 69
4. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 143
5. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli