Etymologically
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divertimento

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Pronunciation

  • /di.ver.tiˈmen.to/[1]

Forms

divertimento m (plural divertimenti)[1]

Etymology

It is formed in Italian, from Italian divertire + -mento.[2][3][1] The verb continues Latin dīvertere (“to turn aside, go another way”), from dis- and vertō (“to turn”), with a change of conjugation;[4][5] “to amuse” grew out of “to turn away (from cares)”.[4][5] The LEI treats the Italian verb and its derivatives under Latin dēvertere (“to turn aside”).[6]

The musical sense, a light instrumental piece, is a calque of French divertissement according to DELI, Devoto–Oli and Zingarelli, although DELI itself dates it to 1587, earlier than the French use of 1790.[4][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Pietro Bembo's Prose della volgar lingua of 1525, for the dropping of a vowel or consonant, an elision.[4][9] A sermon of Giordano da Pisa that the Crusca and Tommaseo quoted for “turning away (from good customs)” is a forgery.[4][10]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “removal, turning away” and the sense “digression” were in use in the 17th century, as in Segneri's divertimento del male (1673), and died out after it.[6][4] The title of a collection of 1587, Trattenimenti ossia divertimenti da suonare, has the musical sense.[4]

The modern sense, “amusement, pastime”, is first found in Segneri in 1679, as the verb moved from “distract” to “entertain”.[4][5] It also came to mean a person who amuses others or is laughed at, and a modulating episode in a fugue or sonata.[2][8] The word passed into English as divertimento, “amusement” in 1759 and the musical piece in 1823, into German in 1802 and into French, in the musical sense, in 1951.[11]

Timeline

  • 1525 – Pietro Bembo uses divertimento for “elision”.[4][2]
  • 1587 – A Venetian collection is titled Trattenimenti ossia divertimenti da suonare.[4][11]
  • 1632–1639 – Bentivoglio uses the word for “digression”.[6]
  • 1679 – Segneri uses it for “amusement, pastime”.[4]
  • 1759 – English divertimento “amusement” is first recorded.[11]
  • 1802 – German Divertimento is first recorded.[11]
  • 1823 – English divertimento is recorded in the musical sense.[11]
  • 1951 – French divertimento is recorded in the musical sense.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. amusement, fun, a pastime: La pesca è il suo divertimento preferito., Buon divertimento!, have fun![2][7][8]
  2. The pleasure of amusement, also ironically: Che divertimento, tre ore in coda![7][3]
  3. A person who amuses others, or a laughingstock: È il divertimento della classe.[2][7][12]
  4. (music) A light instrumental piece in several movements, typical of the 18th century; also, a modulating passage in a fugue or sonata.[2][7][8]
  5. (archaic) Removal; digression.[2][7][12]

Usage notes

Parco dei divertimenti is an amusement park.[2][8] Non è un divertimento and sai che divertimento are said of something tiresome.[2][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 20, 81
  7. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 863
  10. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  11. ^ a b c d e f Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana