Etymologically
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comune

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Pronunciation

Forms

comune m or f by sense (plural comuni, superlative comunissimo)[1] Old forms include Old Italian commune, Old Italian comuno and Old Italian comone.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin commūnis (“shared, common; public”).[4][5][1][6] DELI regards the whole family as learned, while the LEI, which finds the Latin word continued in every Romance language except Romanian, treats it as inherited: Friulian comùn, Romansh cumün, French commun, Catalan comú, Spanish común and Portuguese comum.[7][6][4] Sabatini–Coletti explain the single ⟨m⟩ by the loss of any feeling that the word was a compound.[8] The noun, “municipality”, is the neuter Medieval Latin commūne, used in Medieval Latin for the common good and then for the commonwealth.[4][9][8][1]

The Latin adjective goes back to an older commoinis and Proto-Italic *kommoinis.[1][3] It is made of com- (“with”) and mūnis (“fulfilling one's duty”), from mūnus (“office, duty”), so that it first meant “sharing a duty with others”, the opposite of immūnis (“free of duties”).[4][7][9] De Vaan derives the noun from Proto-Indo-European *h₂moi-no- (“exchange”) and compares Oscan múíníkú (“common”), Old Irish móin (“treasure”) and Lithuanian mainas (“exchange”); the same compound appears in Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (gamains, “common”) and German gemein.[10][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Proverbia que dicuntur, a Venetian poem of the late 12th century.[2] DELI dates the sense “usual, widespread” from the 12th century, in Gerardo Patecchio, and “belonging to several people” from 1282, in Restoro d'Arezzo.[7] The noun is first found in a Veronese document of 1214, and in 1219 in the Breve di Montieri for the medieval self-governing city.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian comune could also mean “impartial” and “affable, easy to approach”.[3][1] Luogo comune renders Latin locus commūnis, itself a translation of the Greek tópos koinós.[3] As a noun il comune named what is ordinary or average (before 1566, Annibal Caro), and the generality of people.[7][11]

The medieval commune gave the noun its political sense, which later passed to the modern municipality, its offices and its town hall.[5][9][12] The feminine la Comune is the revolutionary government of Paris, a borrowing of French Commune recorded in 1871;[7][4][13] DELI holds that the political sense as a whole came by way of French, which explains the feminine.[7][4][13] In the theatre la comune was the door of the stage set leading to the supposed entrance of the flat (1892–1893, Pirandello), from porta comune.[7]

Derivatives include comunale (1233–1243), comunanza (13th century), comunella, a private agreement (1544, Annibal Caro), and comunardo, a member of the Paris Commune (1872, Carducci).[7][4]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – Comune is used in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur.[2]
  • 1214 – The noun appears in a Veronese document.[2]
  • 1219 – The Breve di Montieri uses it for the medieval commune.[7]
  • 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses it for what belongs to several people.[7]
  • 1544 – Comunella is recorded, in Annibal Caro.[7]
  • 1871 – La Comune is used of the Paris Commune.[7][4]
  • 1872 – Carducci uses comunardo.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Shared by or belonging to two or more people or things; common, mutual: Abbiamo scoperto di avere un amico comune.[5][9][14][1]
  2. Concerning a whole community; public, as in il bene comune (the common good).[9][14]
  3. Usual, widespread, generally accepted: È un errore molto comune tra gli studenti.[5][9][14]
  4. Ordinary, average, (derogatory) mediocre, unrefined: un vino comune.[5][14]
  5. (grammar) In nome comune, a common noun, and genere comune, the gender of nouns that are masculine or feminine according to the person meant.[14][9]
  6. (archaic) Impartial; affable.[5][1]

Noun

  1. (masculine) A municipality, the local authority of a town and its territory, headed by a mayor: Il comune ha chiuso la piscina per lavori.[5][9][1]
  2. (masculine) The town hall, the municipal offices: Domani devo andare in comune per il passaporto.[5][9]
  3. (masculine, history) The commune, the self-governing city of medieval Italy.[5][9][1]
  4. (masculine, singular) What is ordinary; the majority, the generality.[5][1]
  5. (feminine, history) la Comune: the revolutionary government of Paris, especially that of 1871.[7][4][12]

Word family

  • comunale
  • comunanza
  • comunella
  • comunardo
  • accomunare
  • comunemente
  • comunicare
  • comunione
  • comunità
  • comunismo
  • comunista
  • immune
  • Latin commūnis

Usage notes

Di comune accordo means “by mutual agreement”, and fare causa comune con qualcuno “to make common cause with someone”.[9][14] The Camera dei Comuni is the British House of Commons.[9][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1041
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: 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 Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 110
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 443
  14. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli