assurdo

Forms

assurdo (feminine assurda, masculine plural assurdi, feminine plural assurde, superlative assurdissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin absurdus (“out of tune; senseless”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][1] The earliest form is Old Italian assordo, in a translation of Cicero of the early 14th century;^[2][5] “assurdo” became usual in the 16th century.^[2][5] The same word is French absurde and Spanish absurdo.^[3]

The Latin adjective is ab- with surdus (“deaf; dull-sounding”), so that its first sense was “out of tune, discordant”, close to Latin absonus (“out of tune”);^[6][7][8][1] Wiktionary explains it as a blend of “absonus” and “surdus”.^[6][7][8][1] Nocentini connects “surdus” with an imitative root “sur-”, found also in Latin susurrus (“whisper”), and Devoto with a root “*swer-”.^[3][9] The derivative “absurditās” meant “dissonance” in the grammarians and took the sense “absurdity” only in Late Latin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is assordo in the Cicerone volgarizzato of the early 14th century: “no thing can be more absurd than to seek more money for the road the less of it remains”; the TLIO's first example is in Jacopo della Lana's commentary on the Purgatorio (Bologna, 1324–1328).^[2][7][10] The sense is “contrary to logic or to common sense”.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

The noun assurdo “an absurdity, a contradiction” is recorded before 1602 (Serdonati) and in Galileo, who speaks of another graver assurdo.^[2][11][5] Assurdità (before 1573, Giannotti) and assurdamente (1540, Guicciardini) followed.^[2][5]

Logic gave the phrases riduzione all'assurdo (1845) and dimostrazione per assurdo, proof by contradiction, and per assurdo “supposing the impossible”.^[5][12] The teatro dell'assurdo is the 20th-century theatre of the absurd.^[13][12] In everyday use the adjective has weakened to “strange, incredible” and, colloquially, “excessive”, as of a price.^[4][13]

Timeline

• Early 14th century – Assordo appears in the Cicerone volgarizzato.^[2][4]
• 1324–1328 – Jacopo della Lana uses assurdo.^[10]
• 1540 – Guicciardini has assurdamente.^[5]
• Before 1573 – Giannotti has assurdo and assurdità.^[2][5]
• Before 1602 – Serdonati uses assurdo as a noun.^[2]
• 1845 – Riduzione all'assurdo is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. absurd: contrary to logic, reason or common sense: un'accusa assurda.^[4][6][14]
2. Strange, hard to believe: Ci siamo trovati in una situazione assurda. Of a person, odd, eccentric.^[4][6][12]
3. (colloquial) Excessive, out of all proportion: Chiedono una cifra assurda per l'affitto.^[13]

Noun

1. An absurdity, something contrary to reason: Quello che dici è un assurdo.^[4][14][12]
2. (logic) Dimostrazione per assurdo: proof by contradiction.^[13][12][6]

Word family

• assurdità
• assurdamente

Related words

• sordo
• sussurro
• Latin absurdus

Usage notes

Per assurdo means “for the sake of argument, supposing the impossible”.^[12] Zingarelli distinguishes assurdo (against common sense) from illogico (against logic) and incoerente (lacking consistency).^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 198
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 336
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse