distanza

Forms

distanza f (plural distanze)^[1] Old forms include distanzia, distancia, destanzia and distansa.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin distantia (“distance; difference”), formed from distāns, the present participle of distō (“to stand apart, be distant”), with the suffix -ia.^{[4][5][6][7][1]} DEI and the GDLI think the Latin noun was modelled on Ancient Greek διάστασις (diástasis, “interval, separation”), and both compare French distance, recorded from the 13th century.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest record is the form distanzia in Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294), in the figurative sense “difference in condition or upbringing”.^[4] The TLIO's first record is in Restoro d'Arezzo's Composizione del mondo of 1282, where it is a measurable interval between two points.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante uses it for the space between places or people, and for remoteness: Ulysses sees una montagna, bruna per la distanza, “a mountain, dark because of the distance”.^[4][9] In Old Italian it also meant a difference or disagreement between two things, and senza distanza meant “at once”.^[2] Matteo Villani applies it to the time between two events (before 1363).^[4]

Geometry took it for the length of the segment between two points (Marino, 1607–1614), and sport for the length of a race (1956).^[4] Modern phrases are tenere le distanze “not to be too familiar”, prendere le distanze “to distance oneself”, and a distanza “from afar, remotely”, as in insegnamento a distanza.^[10][11][12]

Timeline

• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses distanza for an interval in space.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Guittone has distanzia “difference”.^[4]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for distance in space.^[4]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses it for an interval of time.^[4]
• 1607–1614 – The geometrical sense appears in Marino.^[4]
• 1956 – The sense “length of a race” is recorded.^[4][13]

Meanings

Noun

1. distance, the space between two places, things or people: La stazione è a dieci minuti di distanza.^[6][12][13]
2. (mathematics) The length of the segment joining two points; the distance between parallel lines or planes.^[6][10]
3. Remoteness: La distanza rende difficili le visite.^[6][12]
4. An interval of time: Sono nati a due anni di distanza.^[6][13]
5. (figurative) Difference, gap: la distanza tra le loro idee.^[6][13][14]
6. (sport) The length of a race; in boxing, the scheduled length of a bout.^[6][12]

Word family

• distanziare
• distanziale
• semidistanza

Related words

• distare
• distante
• Latin distantia
• French distance

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. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1355
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 790
10. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli