diverso

Forms

diverso (feminine diversa, masculine plural diversi, feminine plural diverse, superlative diversissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin dīversus (“turned in another direction; different, opposite”), the past participle of dīvertō (“to turn aside, go different ways”).^[2][3][4] That verb is formed with dis- (“apart”) and vertō (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”).^[2][5][1] The derived diversitās, the Late Latin noun diversiō and the Medieval Latin verb diversificō were borrowed as diversità, diversione and diversificare.^[2][3]

The word passed by learned routes into French divers and Occitan divers too, while the popular Spanish divieso became a noun for a boil, from the sense “harmful”.^[3][6] The sense “several, many” was already in Latin in Gregory of Tours.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Saint Francis of Assisi in 1224, in the sense “different, unlike”.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used diverso also for what is strange, terrible or rough: Dante calls Cerberus “fiera crudele e diversa” (a cruel and monstrous beast) and enters “per una via diversa” (by a hard way).^[4][8][9] DEI records the senses “cruel, perverse” in the 14th century.^[7] Alberto della Piagentina (before 1332) has both “turned another way” and the plural “several”.^[2]

In the 20th century diverso became a noun for someone thought to depart from the social norm, and a euphemism for a homosexual.^[4][10][11] Among the derivatives, diversità is recorded in 1282 and diversione “diversion” in military tactics in Machiavelli (1522–1525).^[2]

Timeline

• 1224 – Saint Francis of Assisi uses diverso “different”.^[2]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses diversità.^[2]
• Before 1332 – Alberto della Piagentina uses the plural for “several”.^[2]
• 1522–1525 – Machiavelli uses diversione for a feint attack.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Different, unlike (da “from”): Ho un'opinione diversa dalla tua.^[4][9][12]
2. (literary) Strange, unusual; also terrible, monstrous or rough.^[4][9][10]
3. (literary) Foreign, of other customs.^[9][12]

Determiner

1. Before a noun, several, a good deal of: Ci sono voluti diversi giorni.^[4][9][8]

Pronoun

1. (plural) Several people: Erano in diversi ad aspettare.^[4][8]

Noun

1. A person seen as departing from what society considers normal.^[4][8]
2. (euphemistic) A homosexual.^[4][10][1]

Word family

• diversamente
• diversità
• diversificare
• diversificazione
• diversione
• diversivo

Related words

• divertire
• verso
• avverso
• Latin diversus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1366
8. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse