Etymologically
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anche

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Pronunciation

Forms

anche (invariable; literary and Tuscan anco)[2][3][4] Northern Italian has the form anca, and central Italy anco.[5][6] Old northern texts write an, anc and anq: Venetian an is recorded about 1250 and Lombard anc at the start of the 13th century.[6]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[7][8][3] The starting point of the LEI and Meyer-Lübke is inherited from Vulgar Latin *anque, the form that best explains the outcomes in every Romance language;[7][6][9] the LEI takes it, after Löfstedt, as an extension of an earlier ⟨anc⟩, a blend of Latin an (“or”) and ac (“and”), built like *dunque beside dunc, and thinks the ending may have been reinforced by che.[6] Meyer-Lübke found none of the explanations offered in his time satisfactory.[9]

Nocentini rejects the particle an, because the oldest Romance meanings are temporal (“still”, and “ever” in negative clauses), and revives a proposal made by Nicholson almost a century ago: Latin antequam (“before”), syncopated to *anquam, which passed from “before now” through “until now” to “still”.[5] In his account the older ⟨*anquam⟩ survives in Sardinian and Romanian, and ⟨*anque⟩ arose when the endings ⟨-quam⟩ and ⟨-que⟩ fell together in Vulgar Latin.[5] Devoto–Oli and Körting instead derive it from hanc (“this”) hōram (“hour”), the source of ancora, with ⟨anco⟩ turned into ⟨anche⟩ under the influence of ⟨che⟩.[2][10][11] DELI, Prati and Gabrielli also consider a form taken out of ⟨ancora⟩,[7][12][13] and Wiktionary a rebracketing of ⟨ancora⟩ as ⟨anc'ora⟩.[1] Nocentini objects that the type also exists in Romansh and Romanian, which have no word like ⟨ancora⟩.[5]

The same word is Romanian încă, Romansh aunc, Friulian anc, Old French ainc, Old Occitan anc and Sardinian anca.[5][6][9] The older Romance meanings, “still” and “ever”, survive in Romanian and in Occitan and Catalan anc.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and GRADIT date the first record to 1211, in a Florentine account book, with the sense “also, too”;[7][8] the form anco is in Dante, before 1321.[7] The LEI lists Florentine anke in a record of 1255 and Guittone d'Arezzo's anche before 1294.[6]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the word for “again” and “still”: in Inferno 34 Dante thinks he is returning to hell, “sì che 'n inferno i' credea tornar anche”.[8][14][13] In the old language it could stand for “other, more”, as in Giovanni Villani's “con anche genti venne da Lucca” (he came from Lucca with more people).[15][12] The literary phrase per anche or per anco meant “yet, so far”, and non anche “not even”.[14][4]

In modern Italian the word adds an item to what has been said, strengthens a statement (“even”), and introduces concessive clauses, chiefly in anche se “even if” and with a gerund.[8][3][2] It formed neanche “not even”.[1]

Timeline

  • 1211 – First record, in a Florentine account book.[7][8]
  • Early 13th century – Lombard anc in Gerardo Patecchio.[6]
  • 1255 – Florentine anke in a private record.[6]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo writes anche.[6]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses anco and anche in the sense “again”.[7][8]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. also, too, as well: adds a person or thing to what was said before: ho invitato Luca e anche sua sorella.[8][3][14]
  2. Moreover, in addition: bisogna anche pensare al ritorno.[8][13]
  3. even, strengthening a statement or a possibility: hai aspettato anche troppo, potrebbe anche piovere.[8][4][14]
  4. Even if, although, introducing a concessive clause with a gerund or a and an infinitive, or in anche se: anche correndo non arriverai in tempo, anche se fa freddo, esco.[8][2][4]
  5. In short answers, “me too, him too”: «Io prendo il treno.» «Anch'io.».[8][14]

Adverb

  1. (literary) again, once more, per anche, per anco: yet, so far.[8][14][4]

Word family

Usage notes

Before io the word is usually elided: anch'io.[1][8] It normally stands just before the word it adds to: anche Maria è venuta adds Maria, Maria è venuta anche oggi adds today.[3] Common combinations are anche se (even if), quand'anche (even if, even supposing), pur anche and fors'anche (perhaps even).[8][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 1486
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 32
  12. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 52
  13. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET