bontà

Forms

bontà f (invariable)^[1] Old Italian forms include bontade, Old Italian bontate, Old Italian bonitade, Old Italian bonitate, Old Italian bonità, Old Italian bonetate and Old Italian bontià.^[2][3] Bontade and bontate survive as archaic and poetic forms.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bonitās (“goodness”), the abstract noun of bonus (“good”).^[6][7][8][1] Old Italian had the full forms bontade and bonitade, which lost their last syllable to give the modern word and bonità.^[9]

The Latin word lives on in all the Romance languages: French bonté, Occitan bontat, Catalan bontat, Spanish bondad, Portuguese bondade, Romanian bunătate and Friulian bontât.^[7][10] Latin formed it from the adjective with the suffix -tās.^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded as bontade in the Tuscan Ritmo laurenziano of the late 12th century, with the sense of a kind, well-disposed feeling.^[6][2] The general sense “the quality of being good” is recorded in the 13th century, in Garzo.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word covered moral goodness, the goodness of God, skill in an art or trade, and the good quality of a thing;^[10] Bolognese bontade is recorded in 1248 and Lodigian bontadhe “good deeds” in the early 13th century.^[10] DELI dates the sense “quality of what is good in itself or for its purpose” to the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century.^[6] Dante used bontade for human art, and Ariosto for good lineage.^[10] The Novellino also has it for ability or worth, a sense now obsolete.^[12]

The polite formula abbiate la bontà di… “be so kind as to…” is recorded in 1865;^[6] DELI thinks it copies French avoir la bonté de, a courtesy formula already used by Pascal in 1656.^[6] Used ironically, bontà sua means “by his kind leave”.^[13][14] Applied to food the word means a good taste, and also a delicious thing; in numismatics it is the amount of fine metal in the alloy of a coin.^[8][4][14]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – Bontade appears in the Ritmo laurenziano.^[6][2]
• 1248 – Bolognese bontade is recorded in the formulas of Guido Faba.^[10]
• 13th century – Garzo uses the word for the quality of being good.^[6]
• 1274 – The form bontà appears in Pietro da Bascapè.^[6]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi writes bonetate.^[6]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses it for the good quality of a thing.^[6]
• 1865 – Abbiate la bontà di… is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. goodness, kindness: the disposition to do good to others: un uomo di grande bontà.^[8][4][9][1]
2. Kindness shown to someone; courtesy, politeness: abbia la bontà di aspettare un momento; often ironic: bontà sua “by his kind leave”.^[8][4][13]
3. (literary) A kind act, a good deed.^[8][4][14]
4. Good quality, efficacy: la bontà di questa ricetta; of the climate, mildness.^[8][4][9]
5. Good taste of food; something delicious: che bontà questo risotto!^[8][4][14]
6. (numismatics) The amount of fine gold or silver in the alloy of a coin; titolo.^[4][9][1]

Related words

• buono
• Latin bonitas
• French bonté

Usage notes

Expressions with the word include bontà divina, somma bontà and bontà infinita, all naming God.^[8][12] The noun is invariable: le bontà.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 161
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 6, 902
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana