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assegno

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word assegno

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1342, statutes of Perugia
Ultimate origin
Latin signum

Pronunciation

  • /asˈseɲ.ɲo/[1]

Forms

assegno m (plural assegni)[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from assegnare (“to assign, allot”).[2][3][1][4] The verb is a learned word, Latin assignāre (“to allot, assign”), a compound of ad- and signō (“to mark, seal”), from signum (“mark, sign”).[2][5][6] DEI notes that the Latin verb was a term of public law, first “to allot a field by marking its boundaries”.[6]

The banking sense, “cheque”, developed in the 19th century; in the second half of that century the French loan chèque prevailed, and Panzini remarked in 1905 that the Italian term belonged more to the commercial code than to everyday usage.[2] Earlier Italian had used cambiale and other terms.[2] German borrowed the word as German Assegno (1876).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO records asegno in the statutes of Perugia of 1342, in the sense “economic gain”.[8] DELI, GRADIT and Nocentini date the modern word to 1588, when Torquato Tasso writes that the Grand Duke has offered him twenty scudi a month and that he is told an assegno of it will be made.[2][3][5][9]

Semantic evolution

Until the 19th century the word meant an allowance or income assigned to someone, a sense still current: assegno di studio (a study grant), assegni familiari (family allowances, introduced in 1937), assegno alimentare (maintenance).[2][10][11] The paper money of the French Revolution, French assignat, was called assegnati in Italian, and Papi (1830–1831) named it carte d'assegno.[2][4]

The sense “cheque” is first found in 1826, in a letter of Antonio Cesari, beside cambiale.[2][7] Assegno bancario is recorded in 1892, assegno circolare (a cashier's cheque) in 1923 and assegno a vuoto (a bounced cheque) in 1931.[2][7] Contrassegno “cash on delivery” comes from the phrase contro assegno.[5]

Timeline

  • 1342 – The statutes of Perugia have asegno “gain”.[8]
  • 1588 – Torquato Tasso uses assegno for an allowance.[2][9]
  • 1826 – Antonio Cesari uses assegno for a written order of payment.[2][7]
  • 1876 – German Assegno is recorded.[7]
  • 1892 – Assegno bancario is recorded.[2]
  • 1923 – Assegno circolare is recorded.[2]
  • 1931 – Assegno a vuoto is recorded.[2]
  • 1937 – Assegni familiari are introduced.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sum of money paid regularly to someone, an allowance: Dopo il divorzio le versa un assegno mensile.[3][12][10]
  2. (banking) A cheque: Ho pagato l'affitto con un assegno.[3][11][13]
  3. (history) Paper money; an assegnato.[3]
  4. (commerce) A sum to be paid on delivery of goods: pagamento contro assegno.[13]

Word family

  • assegnista
  • contrassegno
  • assegnare
  • segno
  • French assignat

Usage notes

Common phrases are assegno circolare “cashier's cheque”, assegno a vuoto “bounced cheque”, assegno non trasferibile “non-transferable cheque”, assegno in bianco “blank cheque” and libretto degli assegni “chequebook”.[10][13][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 79
  5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 329
  7. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  8. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
Cite this entry

“Assegno.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/assegno. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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