carino

Forms

carino (feminine carina, masculine plural carini, feminine plural carine, superlative carinissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian caro + -ino, the affectionate diminutive of the adjective meaning “dear”.^[2][3][4] The base word is inherited from Latin cārus (“dear; costly”), found in every Romance language except Romanian: French cher, Catalan car, Spanish caro and Portuguese caro.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The LEI finds carino “amiable, dear” in a Pistoia account book of 1301;^[5][2][3][6] DELI and GRADIT date the word from Goldoni in 1761, Nocentini from 1735.^[5][2][3][6] In Goldoni it is already ironic: a lady answers her husband's excuses with Sì sì, carino, ho capito “Yes, yes, dear, I understand”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the 18th century the word meant “graceful, pleasant” of things and people, and also, said with irony, “nasty, disagreeable”.^[5][2] Tommaseo noted that it was used above all to children and young people, and that to an adult it could sound ironic or condescending, Carino mio! even expressing impatience or threat.^[8] Manzoni, Nievo and Carducci all used it, often with irony.^[7] As a noun, carino was a favourite or pet child (1866, De Sanctis).^[5]

The dialects have the same diminutive: Ligurian carìn, Bolognese carein, Romagnol carēn and Neapolitan carino.^[5] In today's Italian it means “pretty, cute” of people and things, “pleasant” of a film or story, and “kind, nice” of behaviour.^[3][9][4]

Timeline

• 1301 – carino “amiable” in a Pistoia account book.^[5]
• 1735 – Nocentini's date for the modern word.^[6]
• 1761 – Goldoni uses carino, ironically.^[2][3]
• 1866 – Francesco De Sanctis uses carino as a noun for a favourite child.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Pleasant to look at, pretty, cute: Che carina la tua borsa nuova!^[3][9][4]
2. Of a person, attractive, good-looking.^[3][4]
3. Pleasant, enjoyable: un libro carino.^[3][9][10]
4. Kind, considerate, nice: È stato carino da parte tua telefonarmi.^[3][9][4]
5. Sweet, thoughtful: un biglietto carino.^[3][9]
6. (ironic) Said in reproach or indignation: Carino! “Charming!”^[9][4]

Word family

• carineria

Related words

• caro
• carezza
• Latin cārus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 12, 836
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana