davanti

Forms

davanti (adverb and preposition; adjective and masculine noun, invariable)^[1][2] Old forms include Old Italian davante, Old Italian davant and northern Old Italian devant.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin dē abante (“from in front”), a Late Latin combination of dē (“from”) and abante (“in front; before”).^[5][6][2][7] According to the LEI, the adverb and preposition abante, formed from ab (“from”) and ante (“before”), is recorded from the 2nd century in the early Latin Bible translations and expressed position in front in space and earlier in time.^[8] The GDLI describes it as a popular form that reinforced the plain preposition.^[9] The same combination with the preposition for “from” grew up in Gallo-Romance and in Italian, and gave French devant and Old Occitan davan.^[8][10][7]

Wiktionary describes the word instead as a formation from the older davante, presumably di plus avante.^[1] The simple adverb is avanti.^[11][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Libro of Uguccione da Lodi, written in the dialect of Cremona early in the 13th century.^[3] DELI dates the adverb, “in front”, to Pier della Vigna in 1249, and the preposition, “opposite, facing”, to Giacomo da Lentini before 1250.^[5] Giacomo's poem about a portrait of his lady ends with a believer who “ancor non ha davante” (does not yet have before him) what he trusts in.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word was also used of time, for “before, earlier”, as in Dante's “ché nol vedea davanti” (for I had not seen it before), and davanti che meant “before” as a conjunction.^{[4][12][3][13]} Boccaccio used it as an adjective for “previous” (1353), and Andrea Palladio for “front” (1570); the noun, “the front part”, appears in Francesco Milizia before 1798.^[5] The construction with a, “in front of, in the presence of”, is now the normal one, and davanti directly before a noun is literary, as in the title of Carducci's poem Davanti San Guido.^[13][12]

The derivative davanzale, the window sill, is recorded before 1400 in Franco Sacchetti; the LEI explains its /ts/ by the influence of the verb avanzare.^[5][8] Davantino, a decorative bib on women's dresses, is a Florentine word that Florio and Oudin recorded in 1598 and 1643.^[5]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the word in Cremonese.^[3]
• 1249 – Pier della Vigna uses davanti as an adverb.^[5]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses it as a preposition.^[5]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses it as an adjective, “previous”.^[5]
• Before 1400 – Davanzale (window sill) is recorded in Franco Sacchetti.^[5]
• 1570 – Andrea Palladio uses davanti for “front, anterior”.^[5]
• Before 1798 – Francesco Milizia uses il davanti for “the front part”.^[5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. in front, ahead: Siediti davanti, così vedi meglio.^[2][12][14]
2. At or on the front part: La macchina è rovinata davanti.^[12][14][13]
3. (archaic) before, earlier.^[2][4][12]

Preposition

1. davanti a: in front of, opposite: Ci vediamo davanti alla stazione.^[4][13][14]
2. davanti a: in the presence of, before: giurare davanti al giudice.^[13][14][15]

Adjective

1. front, placed at the front (invariable): i fari davanti.^[2][12][13]

Noun

1. The front part of something: il davanti del cappotto.^[2][4][13]

Word family

• davanzale
• davantino

Related words

• avanti
• avanzare
• dinanzi
• French devant

Usage notes

Davanti is the opposite of dietro, and dinanzi is a synonym.^[13][12] A common saying is mettere il carro davanti ai buoi, to put the cart before the horse.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
8. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 10
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 44
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
12. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli