buonasera

Forms

buonasera (interjection; feminine invariable noun)^[2] It is also written as buona sera, and less often bonasera.^[3][4][5] Old Italian has bona sera and buona sera.^[6]

Etymology

It is a compound from Italian buona (“good”) + sera (“evening”), the feminine of buono with sera, first a greeting phrase and later written as a single word.^[2][7][3][6] It is formed like buongiorno and buonanotte, and like French bonsoir and Romanian bună seara.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in a collection of insults recorded at Lucca between 1330 and 1384, as a greeting or wish used when people met or parted in the evening.^[6] Zingarelli dates it to 1365 and GRADIT to before 1400.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

In Bibbiena's comedy a character wonders how to greet someone: not “good day”, since it is no longer morning, and not “good evening”, since it is not late yet.^[8] DELI records the noun, “the greeting itself”, in Aretino in 1536 and in Giovan Maria Cecchi in 1556, where it is masculine at first and later feminine.^[9]

In current Italian it is said from the afternoon on, both on meeting and on leaving.^[3][7] Colloquially it also expresses disappointment or disbelief, or marks something that ends abruptly.^[2][3][7] The signorina buonasera was the television announcer who presented the evening's programmes.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1330–1384 – Bona sera appears in insults recorded at Lucca.^[6]
• 1365 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^[7]
• 1536 – Aretino uses the greeting as a noun, in the masculine.^[9]
• 1556 – Giovan Maria Cecchi uses the noun.^[9]

Meanings

Interjection

1. good evening; a greeting used from the afternoon on, when meeting or parting: Buonasera, signora, come sta?^[2][3][7]
2. (regional) good afternoon.^[1]
3. (colloquial) Expresses disbelief or disappointment, or that something is over and done with: «Domani mi alzo alle sei.» «Sì, buonasera!»^[2][3][7]

Noun

1. (feminine, invariable) The evening greeting itself: Mi ha dato la buonasera e se n'è andato.^[2][4][5]

Related words

• buongiorno
• buonanotte

Usage notes

In speech the greeting is often shortened to sera.^[2] The phrase dare la buonasera is the usual way of saying “to wish someone good evening”.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
6. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
7. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli