Etymologically
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calmo

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Pronunciation

Forms

calmo (feminine calma, masculine plural calmi, feminine plural calme, superlative calmissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is a shortened past participle of calmare (“to calm”), used as an adjective.[2][3][4][5] The verb is formed from the noun calma (“calm”), which according to DELI and Nocentini comes from Late Latin cauma (“heat”), from Ancient Greek καῦμα (kaûma, “burning heat”), a noun of καίω (kaíō, “to burn”).[2][3] The sense moved from heat to stillness among sailors, for whom the midday heat meant no wind and a motionless sea, and the ⟨l⟩ for ⟨u⟩ is a hypercorrect reversal of the common change of /l/ to /u/ before a consonant.[3] Wiktionary calls the origin uncertain and suggests the influence of Latin calor (“heat”).[1]

French calme and Spanish calma come from Italian, and so does the word in Catalan and in Portuguese.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Perugian poet Cecco Nuccoli, of the first half of the 14th century, where calmo means “free from torment”.[6] DELI's earliest date is Luigi Tansillo, who died in 1568, for a sea not stirred by the wind: “always treading a calm and quiet sea”.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “quiet, serene” of days and weather is in Antonio Cocchi, before 1758.[2][7] Nineteenth-century purists disliked the short participle: DELI notes their objections, and the language critics quoted by the GDLI accepted calmo only of the sea and found it very odd of a person's state of mind.[2][8] The word nevertheless spread to people and periods of time, as in Nievo's “infinitely calm ocean of eternity”.[8]

In modern Italian calmo describes a sea or air without wind, a period without trouble or activity, and a person who is not upset or who is placid by nature.[5][4] On the stock exchange a mercato calmo is a market with few dealings and falling prices, and in astronomy a sole calmo is a quiet sun.[4][5][9] D'Annunzio used it of subdued colours.[10]

Timeline

  • First half of the 14th century – Cecco Nuccoli uses calmo “free from torment”.[6]
  • Before 1568 – Luigi Tansillo uses it of a calm sea.[2][5]
  • Before 1758 – Antonio Cocchi uses it for “quiet, serene”.[2]
  • 19th century – Purists object to the shortened participle.[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the sea, the air or the weather: calm, still, without wind or waves: Stamattina il lago era calmo come uno specchio.[5][4][11]
  2. Of a period of time: quiet, without trouble, activity or news: Ad agosto in ufficio è una settimana calma.[5][4]
  3. Of a person: not agitated, upset or angry, also as an exhortation (calmo!, “calm down!”): Prima del colloquio era stranamente calmo.[5][4][12]
  4. placid, even-tempered by nature: un ragazzo calmo e riflessivo.[5][4][9]
  5. (finance) Of a market: with few dealings and prices tending to fall.[4][5]

Word family

  • calmamente

Usage notes

Prendersela calma means to take one's time.[5] An obsolete Venetian calmo “graft, scion” (Bembo, before 1547) is a separate word: it continues Latin calamus (“reed, stalk”), and the verb incalmare “to graft” belongs to it.[5][13][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  7. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 773
  14. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti