deretano

Forms

deretano m (plural deretani)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian diretano, Old Italian deredano, Old Italian derean and Old Italian dirridanu.^[2] DEI notes that the adjective once spread over all of northern Italy, as Old Italian dredan and Old Italian driano.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *deretrānus, an adjective formed on Late Latin dē retrō (“behind”), which lost its second /r/ by dissimilation from the first.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} GRADIT and Zingarelli describe it as the Late Latin phrase with the suffix -ano, and the TLIO derives it within Italian from Old Italian dereto (“behind”).^[9][10][2] The noun “backside” is the old adjective “rear, last” used as a noun, a jocular euphemism.^[8][4]

The same adjective is Old French derrain and Old Occitan dereiran, both meaning “last”; modern French dernier comes from a further derivative *deretranarius.^[4][11][12] The Latin phrase is de (“from”) and retro (“backwards, behind”), first found in the Vetus Latina, and also gave dietro and French derrière.^[1][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Venetian translation of the Pamphilus from about 1250, where the adjective means “placed behind, rear”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective the word meant “at the back”, also “farther away” and “hind” of animals' legs and of the rear half of a body or a ship;^[2][14] Dante's thieves turned into serpents stretch out their hind feet (li diretani alle cosce distese).^[2][14] The second main sense was “last”, with set phrases such as deretana unzione “extreme unction”, deretano giudizio “Last Judgement” and deretana volontà “last will”.^[2] Boccaccio keeps “the last place” for Dioneo in the Decameron.^[15][9]

The noun “backside” appears in Ariosto's Orlando furioso of 1516.^[8] Tommaseo already marked the adjective as antiquated, and today it survives in literary use while the noun is the common jocular word.^[15][9][10]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – A Venetian translation of the Pamphilus uses deretano “rear”.^[2]
• 1288 – Zingarelli dates the word to this year.^[10]
• 1516 – Ariosto uses it as a noun, “backside”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly jocular) The backside, the buttocks: Cadde dalla bicicletta e atterrò sul deretano.^[9][6][7][1]

Adjective

1. (literary, rare) Placed at the back, rear, posterior.^[9][10][16]
2. (obsolete) Last, final.^[9][10][16]

Related words

• dietro
• retro
• French dernier
• French derrière

Usage notes

An older variant is diretano.^[6][7][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1255
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c 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 c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 1322
14. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
15. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana