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bellezza

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word bellezza

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur
Inherited from
Latin *bellitia
Ultimate origin
Latin bellus

Pronunciation

  • /belˈlet.t͡sa/[1]

Forms

bellezza f (plural bellezze)[1] Old Italian has many spellings, such as beleza, belleça, bellessa and bellecza.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bellitia, from Latin bellus (“pretty, fine”) with the abstract suffix -itia; by surface analysis it is bello with the suffix -ezza.[3][1][4] DEI notes that the Vulgar Latin noun belongs to Italy, where the dialects have it widely; Spanish belleza and Portuguese beleza came from Italian, while the older Italian synonym beltà was imported.[4] GRADIT, Sabatini–Coletti and the TLIO describe it simply as a derivative of the adjective.[5][6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, in the sense “the quality of being beautiful”; the TLIO's first is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur super natura feminarum of the late 12th century.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word covered beauty of things and people, an ornament, the elegance of speech, and inner, moral beauty; it could also name a beautiful woman.[2] Petrarch used bellezza for a beautiful person (1374), a use the 19th-century purists disputed.[7] The sense “a large amount”, as in la bellezza di cento lire, appears in the 19th century;[4] DEI compares French cent belles livres.[4]

Bellezza dell'asino, “the donkey's beauty”, the freshness of youth alone, is a popular reinterpretation of French beauté de l'âge, “the beauty of one's age”.[4][8] Istituto di bellezza, a beauty salon (1965), copies French institut de beauté, and morire in bellezza copies mourir en beauté.[7][8]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur use the word.[2]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses bellezza.[7][3]
  • 1374 – Petrarch uses it for a beautiful person.[7]
  • 16th century – DEI records the sense “ornament, jewel”.[4]
  • 19th century – La bellezza di “as much as” and bellezza dell'asino appear.[4]
  • 1965 – Istituto di bellezza is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. beauty, the quality of what is beautiful: la bellezza del paesaggio toscano.[5][9][6]
  2. Moral beauty, nobility: la bellezza di un gesto generoso.[5][6]
  3. A beautiful person or thing; also an affectionate or ironic form of address: Ciao, bellezza![5][3][6]
  4. (plural) The beautiful features of a place: le bellezze naturali.[5][10]
  5. In exclamations of joy: Che bellezza![5][3]
  6. la bellezza di: as much as, as long as (stressing a large amount): Abbiamo aspettato la bellezza di tre ore.[5][6]

Word family

  • imbellezzire

Usage notes

Set phrases include finire in bellezza “to end on a high note”, concorso di bellezza “beauty contest” and istituto di bellezza “beauty salon”.[3][9][10] In Genoa bellezze di Genova was an 18th-century name for the Jerusalem cherry, Solanum pseudocapsicum.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 479
  5. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Bellezza.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/bellezza. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·