dentro

Forms

dentro (invariable)^[1] The popular and dialect form is drento, with the ⟨r⟩ moved by metathesis.^[2][3][4] Old forms include dentra, dintro, dintra and dentrovi “in there”.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin deintro (“inside”), a compound of dē (“from”) and intrō (“inside, within”).^[7][2][8][1] DEI notes that the compound is recorded from the 4th century, as the opposite of deforis (“outside”).^[9] The LEI finds its popular outcomes in Friulian déntri, Old Occitan dintre, Spanish dentro (from the 14th century), Portuguese dentro (from 1186) and Italian.^[6][10]

Related compounds went elsewhere: deinter survives in Romanian and Dalmatian, and deintus (998, Codex Cajetanus) gave Old French denz, the source of modern French dans, and Catalan dins.^[9] The Latin adverb is formed from inter (“between”), the source of Italian entro.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur, from the last quarter of the 12th century.^[5][6] DELI's first Tuscan-area record is the preposition in Cielo d'Alcamo, before 1250: li frati miei ti trovano dentro chissà magione (my brothers will find you inside this house).^[7][11]

Semantic evolution

The adverb is in Bono Giamboni before 1292, and the noun “the inside, the soul” in Dante (1304–1308).^[7] Giacomo da Lentini writes the variant dentra in Dentra lo core meo / porto la tua figura (within my heart I carry your image).^[11] The LEI records the word in almost every old dialect, from Cremonese and Venetian in the early 13th century to Sicilian dentru around 1380.^[6]

The metathesized drento is in Cavalca, Poliziano, Bembo and Berni,^[4] but Leonardo Salviati in the 16th century already treated it as a popular form.^[11] In modern colloquial use dentro also means “in prison”: l'hanno messo dentro.^[8][12]

Timeline

• Last quarter of the 12th century – The word appears in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur.^[5]
• Before 1250 – Cielo d'Alcamo uses it as a preposition.^[7][8]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it as an adverb.^[7]
• Before 1292 – Addentro is recorded.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it as a noun.^[7]
• 14th century – Indentro and addentrarsi are recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. inside, within: entra pure, è aperto dentro.^[8][13][12]
2. indoors: fa freddo, restiamo dentro.^[8][1]
3. (figurative) Inwardly, in one's heart: sorrideva, ma dentro piangeva.^[8][13][14]
4. (colloquial) In prison.^[8][13][1]
5. Involved, taking part: in quell'affare c'era dentro anche lui.^[8][12]

Preposition

1. In, inside (directly, or with a; with di before personal pronouns): dentro la borsa, dentro di sé.^[8][3][14]
2. (of time) Within, by: dentro la fine del mese.^[8][3][15]

Noun

1. The inside: il dentro della scatola.^[8][1]

Word family

• addentro
• addentrarsi
• indentro

Related words

• entro
• fuori
• Latin intrō
• Spanish dentro

Usage notes

Common phrases are darci dentro (to put one's back into it), o dentro o fuori (make up your mind) and tenersi tutto dentro (to keep everything to oneself).^[12][14][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 369
5. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 772
7. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1251
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
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
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli