Etymologically
Log in

corrente

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 04:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /korˈrɛn.te/[1]
  • Regional: /korˈren.te/[1]

Forms

corrente (plural correnti); as a noun, la corrente (feminine, “current”) and il corrente (masculine, “batten”)[1][2] Old Italian forms include corente, chorrente and currente.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin currentem (“running”), the present participle of currō (“to run”), and it still serves as the present participle of correre.[4][2][1][5] The feminine noun is the adjective used as a noun, from the phrase for “running water”, and the masculine noun “batten” is a further use of the adjective.[6][7][5]

The electric sense follows French courant électrique, recorded in 1806.[5] The phrases meaning “to be, to keep informed” are a calque of au courant.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Cielo d'Alcamo, before 1250, where the word means “running, moving fast”.[9][10] The TLIO's earliest text is the Splanamento of Patecchio of Cremona (13th century).[3]

Semantic evolution

Bono Giamboni (before 1292) uses the word for water that flows instead of standing, and for what is in progress; from 1304 Giordano da Pisa uses it for what is common or usual, and before 1348 Francesco da Barberino for a smooth style.[9] Dante's hounds are bramose e correnti, eager and swift.[10][11] In Old Italian a coin that was corrente was valid and in use, and the word could mean a person too quick to speak or act.[3]

The feminine noun is recorded from 1288, in a Sienese translation of Giles of Rome.[3] It named the current of a river or of the sea, and in the 19th century also a movement of ideas.[10][5] The masculine noun, a long beam or batten of a roof, is recorded from the 14th or the 16th century, and in the Renaissance it could also mean a running horse.[5][6][12] Galileo uses corrente for the beams of his problem on the strength of materials.[13] The electric current came with the physics of about 1800,[12] and the political sense, a faction within a party, is modern.[8][14]

Timeline

  • Before 1250 – Cielo d'Alcamo uses corrente “running”.[9]
  • 1288 – The feminine noun appears in a Sienese translation.[3]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it of flowing water.[9]
  • 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for “common, usual”.[9]
  • 16th century – The masculine noun “batten” is recorded.[6][2]
  • Before 1600 – Corrente is the name of a dance.[15][16]
  • About 1800 – The electric current is named.[12][5]
  • 1865 – German borrows Corrente as the name of the dance.[16]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. flowing, running, of water: acqua corrente, running water from the tap.[15][2][17]
  2. current, now in progress: il mese corrente.[15][8][17]
  3. In force, in use: prezzo corrente, the market price, moneta corrente, currency in circulation.[15][4][17]
  4. Common, widespread: un'opinione corrente.[15][8][14]
  5. Ordinary, of little value: merce corrente.[15][8][4]
  6. fluent, smooth, of style or speech: Parla un francese corrente.[15][2][17]
  7. Continuous, running along a wall: un sedile corrente.[2][17]

Noun

  1. (feminine) A current of water or air, a flow in one direction: la corrente del fiume.[8][14]
  2. (feminine) A draught in a room: Chiudi la porta, c'è corrente.[8][14]
  3. (feminine) A flow of people, vehicles or goods.[8][14]
  4. (feminine) A trend of thought or art; a faction within a party.[8][14]
  5. (feminine, physics) Electric current; colloquially, electricity.[8][1]
  6. (masculine, building) A batten, a light beam of a roof or scaffolding.[2][8]
  7. (masculine, nautical, aeronautics) A stringer of a hull, fuselage or wing.[2][8]
  8. (masculine) In essere al corrente, to be informed of something, tenere al corrente, to keep informed.[4][8]

Word family

  • controcorrente
  • correntista
  • correntemente
  • correntezza
  • correntone
  • correntaiolo
  • correntino
  • correntismo
  • correntizio

Usage notes

A minor homograph, corrente the dance, was a lively dance of the 16th and 17th centuries in Italy and France, recorded before 1600 and compared with French courante (1515); it survived as a folk dance in Piedmont.[15][16] Tommaseo notes that the Piedmontese used the name for the monferrina.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  4. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1122
  6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 334
  13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 819
  14. ^ a b c d e f Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ 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
  16. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  17. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  18. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 1751