Etymologically
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dentro

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Pronunciation

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

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