Etymologically
Log in

direttamente

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 05:04. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /di.ret.taˈmen.te/[1]

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]

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