argento

Forms

argento m (plural argenti)^[1] The old variant ariento is now obsolete; it was most common in the south.^[1][2][3] Old Italian forms include argiento, arciento, arzento and arigento.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin argentum (“silver”).^{[6][7][8][1][4]} The word is panromance: Romanian argint, Dalmatian arziánt, Friulian arint, French argent, Old Occitan argent, Catalan argent, Old Spanish argento and Sardinian argentu.^[5][7][9] In Spain and Portugal it lost ground to Spanish plata and Portuguese prata, words meaning “plate”.^[10][5]

The form ariento, recorded from the earliest texts, also in Tuscany, has been traced to Vulgar Latin *aregentum with an inserted vowel, compared with Oscan aragetud (“with silver, money”).^[1][9][4] Meyer-Lübke judged that base doubtful, since Latin has no such inserted vowels;^[9][4] Castellani thought it probable, but the LEI rejects it.^[9][4]

The Latin noun is from Proto-Italic *argentom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ŕ̥ǵn̥tom (“silver”).^[11][1] The same formation is Gaulish arganto- in Gaulish names, Old Irish argat and Welsh arian;^[11][7][12] Sanskrit, Avestan and Armenian have words for “silver” from the same root, while Ancient Greek ἄργυρος (árguros, “silver”) has another suffix.^[11][7][12] DELI and GRADIT compare Ancient Greek ἀργός (argós, “bright, shining”).^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a document from Savona of 1178–1182.^[4] DELI's first literary examples, both from the early 13th century, are argentu in the Ritmo su Sant'Alessio and argento in Giacomino Pugliese, in the sense “the white metal”.^[6] From the start the metal stood beside gold as wealth, as in Brunetto Latini's che vale argento ed oro (“which is worth silver and gold”).^[13]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian argento already meant wealth and coin, silver vessels, and anything white and shining, such as skin, teeth or water.^[4] Dante's traitor in the ice piange qui l'argento de' Franceschi (“weeps here for the money of the French”), a sense now literary.^[3][8] Argento vivo, from Latin argentum vivum “living silver”, named mercury for its mobility and was recorded by 1305–1306; it remained the usual word in science until mercurio replaced it, and survives in avere l'argento vivo addosso “to be unable to keep still”.^[6][7][3]

Derivatives followed the trade: argentiere “silversmith” (1367), argenteria “silverware” (before 1400, Franco Sacchetti, with Medieval Latin arzenteria at Trento in 1208), and argentino “silvery”, also of a clear ringing sound (1437–1438, Leon Battista Alberti).^[6] In modern use argento also names the silver medal in sport and the colour silver-grey, and nozze d'argento is a 25th wedding anniversary.^[8][14][3]

Timeline

• 1178–1182 – Argento appears in a document from Savona.^[4]
• Early 13th century – Argentu in the Ritmo su Sant'Alessio and argento in Giacomino Pugliese.^[6]
• 1305–1306 – Argento vivo “mercury” is first recorded.^[7]
• 1367 – Argentiere “silversmith” is recorded.^[6]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses argenteria.^[6]
• 1437–1438 – Leon Battista Alberti uses argentino “silvery”.^[6]
• 1892 – Argentana, an alloy also called nickel silver, is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. silver, the precious white metal, used for coins, jewellery and tableware; in chemistry the element with symbol Ag and atomic number 47: un anello d'argento.^[8][14][1]
2. Whiteness or brightness like that of silver: l'argento dei suoi capelli.^[8][3][15]
3. A silver-grey colour; also as an invariable adjective: una giacca argento.^[8][2]
4. An object made of silver; in the plural, gli argenti, silverware.^[8][14][3]
5. (sports) A silver medal: La squadra ha conquistato l'argento.^[8][14]
6. (literary) Silver coin; money, riches.^[8][14][16]
7. (heraldry) argent, the tincture silver.^[1]

Word family

• argentare
• argentato
• argenteo
• argenteria
• argentiere
• argentino
• argentifero
• argentatura
• argentario
• argentone
• argentana
• inargentare
• argento vivo

Related words

• ariento
• Latin argentum
• French argent

Usage notes

Argento vivo for mercury is popular rather than technical.^[3][16] Servire su un piatto d'argento means to hand someone something with no effort on their part.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 1073
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 644
14. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana