Etymologically
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desiderio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 21:11. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /de.ziˈdɛ.rjo/, /de.siˈdɛ.rjo/[1]

Forms

desiderio m (plural desideri)[1] Old forms include Old Italian desidero, Old Italian disidero and Old Italian disiderio.[2][3][4] A Paduan deserio is recorded in the second half of the 13th century.[5]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin dēsīderium (“longing, desire”), from dēsīderō (“to long for, miss”).[6][7][8][9] Wiktionary describes it as the older desidero reshaped after the Latin.[1]

The inherited form and its variant disidero have a suffix ⟨-ero⟩ like that of lavorero and monastero, and the LEI sets them apart from the learned form.[5] Other inherited outcomes of the Latin noun are Old French desiier, Old Occitan dezier and Old Catalan desirer.[5][10][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian translation of Pamphilus, about 1250, in the sense of a strong inclination of the mind towards something wished for.[2] DELI's earliest date for the sense “longing for what gives pleasure or is good” is before 1294, in Guittone d'Arezzo, and Bono Giamboni has “sense of lack” before 1292.[6]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses the word for the thing desired in the Convivio (1304–1308), and ends the Paradiso with “the ardour of desire” (l'ardor del desiderio) coming to rest.[6][3] Old Italian also used it for care for a person, for greed for food and for anxious longing or regret.[2] DEI lists the senses “sexual appetite” and “beloved person”.[9]

The poetic disio and desio, common in Dante and Petrarch, are related forms.[3][11]

Timeline

  • c. 1250 – The Venetian Pamphilus has desiderio.[2]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “sense of lack”.[6]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses disidero.[6][3]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante has the sense “thing desired”.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. desire, wish, longing: a strong impulse to have or do something felt as good: Ho un gran desiderio di vedere il mare.[8][12][13]
  2. The thing desired, a wish: Esprimi un desiderio prima di spegnere le candeline.[8][12][13]
  3. greed, craving: desiderio di potere.[8][13]
  4. Sexual desire.[8][12][13]
  5. A sense of lack, need; regret for someone absent or dead.[8][12]
  6. (literary) The beloved person.[8]

Word family

Usage notes

Pio desiderio is a wish that will not come true.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 371
  5. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1260
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse