direttamente

Etymology

It is from Italian diretto + -mente, from the adjective “direct” and the adverb-forming suffix.^[2][3][1][4] The adjective continues Latin dīrēctus (“straight; direct”), the past participle of dīrigō (“to direct, to set straight”).^[5] The LEI notes that the popular Italian forms of the same word, such as diritto, have a stressed /i/ that probably goes back to a variant Latin *dīrīctus, while the Romance relatives start from the long /eː/: French droit, Romanian drept, Spanish derecho and Portuguese direito.^[5] The old adverb built on that form, Old Italian dirittamente, is where the TLIO files the modern word.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates direttamente to before 1642 and Devoto–Oli to the first half of the 17th century.^[2][7] The GDLI's first quotation is from Galileo: the part of a comet that lies “directly” between the Sun and us looks brighter, in the sense “in a straight line”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo–Bellini gave “in a straight line” as the first sense and “outright, straight away” as the second, quoting Redi on poultices that “go directly to attack” the vital parts.^[9] Later writers such as Manzoni and Carlo Levi kept the physical sense of a path that heads straight at something.^[8] Modern Italian uses the word above all for going somewhere without stops or detours, for dealing with someone without intermediaries, and for speaking openly.^[2][7][3] In mathematics direttamente proporzionale is the opposite of inversamente.^[7][3]

Timeline

• Before 1642 – Galileo uses direttamente “in a straight line”.^[2][8]
• Second half of 17th century – Redi uses it for “straight away, outright”.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. directly, straight, without stops or detours: Dopo la partita torno direttamente a casa.^[2][7][3]
2. Without intermediaries, in person: Ne parlerò direttamente con il direttore.^[2][7][3]
3. Openly, frankly: Gliel'ha detto direttamente.^[2][7]
4. (mathematics) In direct ratio, as opposed to inversamente: due grandezze direttamente proporzionali.^[7][3]

Related words

• diretto
• diritto
• dirigere
• Latin dīrēctus

References

1. ^ a b 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 e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
4. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 588
6. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
7. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 532
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET