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costrutto

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word costrutto

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1292 before 1292, Fiore di rettorica More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Latin constructum
Ultimate origin
Latin struō

Forms

costrutto m (plural costrutti)[1] The old and literary form is construtto.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin constructum, the neuter of constructus, past participle of cōnstruō (“to build, construct”), a learned word.[5][6][7][8] It serves as the old past participle of costruire, beside the regular costruito, and the noun is its use as a substantive.[9][7][3] The Latin verb is formed con- (“with”) and struō (“to pile up, build”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Fiore di rettorica (before 1292, Tuscan).[2] DELI's earliest date is before 1306, in Iacopone da Todi, for the order and arrangement of words, and GDLI quotes him: Forsa quella scrittura ha sì forte costrutto, / che non la porria entennere chi non ne fosse istrutto “perhaps that writing has so hard a construction that no one could understand it without learning”.[10][11]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means “built, put together”: Dante's first circle of the violent is in tre gironi... distinto e costrutto “divided and built in three rings”.[3][11] As a noun it moved from the arrangement of words to the sense they make, recorded before 1492 in Lorenzo de' Medici, and to the profit one gets from something, before 1527 in Machiavelli.[10] Dante also used it for a phrase or a name.[6][2]

The notes to the Malmantile explain costrutto in zoccoli, a construction “in clogs”, as a stiff, awkward sentence.[11][12] The phrases senza costrutto “pointless, meaningless” and cavare un costrutto “get something useful out of it” keep the later senses alive.[6][4]

Timeline

  • Before 1292 – First record, in the Fiore di rettorica.[2]
  • Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses it for the order of words.[10]
  • Before 1492 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses it for meaning or sense.[10]
  • Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses it for profit or advantage.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (linguistics) A construction: the order and arrangement of words in a clause or sentence: un costrutto alla latina.[9][6][13]
  2. (archaic) A phrase or expression; also a word or name.[6][13]
  3. The sense or substance of a speech: senza costrutto, meaningless.[9][6][4]
  4. (figurative) A positive result, profit, advantage: cavare un costrutto da qualcosa.[9][6][4]

Adjective

  1. (literary) Built, formed, put together: una macchina ben costrutta.[9][4][3]

Usage notes

GRADIT lists the rhetorical term figura di costrutto.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: 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. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  9. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 909
  12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Costrutto.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/costrutto. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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