Etymologically
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bianco

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Pronunciation

Forms

bianco (feminine bianca, masculine plural bianchi, feminine plural bianche, superlative bianchissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is a Germanic loan, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *blank (“shining, bright”), which replaced Latin albus (“white”) in most of Romance.[2][3][4][5] It is recorded early as Medieval Latin blancus: as the byname of one Constantius at Ravenna in 893, and of horses in Leo of Naples in the 10th century.[1][2][6] The Germanic word is Old High German blanch (“shining, white”), German blank (“shiny, bare”) and Old English blanc.[7][4] The LEI derives it from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to shine”).[7]

When and through whom the word came is discussed: DELI thinks of Lombardic, pointing to a man called “Blanco” in the Garfagnana in 716, and suggests that it was first used of the coats of horses.[2] Nocentini says it was brought by the Franks and the Lombards but not by the Goths.[3] The LEI reports Wartburg's view that it entered Late Latin through military language, for the colour of shields or of horses, and Rohlfs's view that it spread with the Frankish expansion.[7]

The same word is French blanc, Occitan blanc, Catalan blanc, Spanish blanco and Portuguese branco;[3][8] DEI considers the Spanish and Portuguese words borrowings from Occitan and Catalan.[3][8] Only Romanian alb in Romanian continues the Latin word.[7] Italian has blanco too, a later loan from Spanish.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is blancho in a document from Savona of 1178–1182.[9][2][4] In Tuscan, bianco is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century, and Dante uses it of white hair.[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word of shining metal and silver coins, of white hair, of pale skin, of a blank sheet and of the political faction of the Whites (parte bianca, 1310–1312, Dino Compagni).[9][2] Carta bianca, a signed blank sheet left for the other party to fill in, gave dare carta bianca “to give a free hand”.[9][10] Bianco was also the name of several old silver coins, as French blanc was.[8][11]

DELI observes that in many phrases bianco marks the absence of something: voce bianca (a child's voice), notte bianca (a sleepless night), matrimonio bianco (an unconsummated marriage), morte bianca (a fatal accident at work).[2][12] Di punto in bianco “all of a sudden” comes from French military language, de but en blanc, a shot fired point-blank at the white of the target.[2] The noun “white person” is in Castiglione (before 1529), and in politics the word came to mean “Catholic” (sindacato bianco) and “counter-revolutionary” (armate bianche).[2][4]

Timeline

  • 893 – Medieval Latin Blancus as a byname at Ravenna.[1]
  • 10th century – cavallos blancos in Leo of Naples.[2]
  • 1178–1182 – Blancho in a Savona document.[9]
  • 1282 – Ristoro d'Arezzo uses the noun “the colour white”.[2]
  • 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni writes of the parte bianca, the White faction.[2]
  • Before 1529 – Baldassarre Castiglione uses bianco for a white person.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. white, of the colour of snow or milk: una camicia bianca.[4][13][1]
  2. pale; not tanned: Sei bianco in faccia, ti senti male?[4][14]
  3. Light in colour as against a darker kind: vino bianco, pane bianco, carne bianca.[4][14][12]
  4. Of hair, white, grey with age.[4][10]
  5. Not written on, blank: un foglio bianco, scheda bianca, a blank ballot.[4][12][10]
  6. Clean, (figurative) pure, innocent.[4][12]
  7. Covered with snow: un Natale bianco.[4][14]
  8. White-skinned, of European descent.[4]
  9. Of Catholic political or trade-union movements: cooperative bianche; counter-revolutionary: le armate bianche.[4][14]

Noun

  1. The colour white: vestita di bianco.[13][14][1]
  2. The white part of something: il bianco dell'uovo, il bianco dell'occhio.[14][8]
  3. A white person.[4][1]
  4. White paint or a whitening substance: dare il bianco alle pareti.[14][13]
  5. Household linen.[13][1]
  6. in bianco: blank (firmare un assegno in bianco); without sauce (pasta in bianco); andare in bianco, to fail, especially in a romantic approach, notte in bianco, a sleepless night.[13][12][4]
  7. (historical) Any of several old silver coins.[8][11]

Word family

  • biancastro
  • biancheggiare
  • biancheria
  • bianchetto
  • bianchezza
  • bianchiccio
  • bianchire
  • biancone
  • biancore
  • biancospino
  • imbiancare

Usage notes

Di punto in bianco means “suddenly, without warning”.[2] Of wine, DEI notes that the contrast bianco / rosso explains why red wine is vino nero in some regions.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 5, 932
  8. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 506
  9. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  10. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse