divorzio

Forms

divorzio m (plural divorzi)^[1] Old and poetic Old Italian divorzo (Petrarch) and Old Italian divorço, divorsio.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dīvortium (“separation; fork of a road; divorce”), a learned word.^[5][6][7][1] The Latin noun comes from dīvertō (“to turn in another direction, separate”), in its archaic form dīvortō, a compound of dis- (“apart”) and vertō (“to turn”).^{[5][8][9][10]} GDLI quotes Isidore of Seville for the oldest sense: “Divortia sunt flexus viarum, hoc est viae in diversa tendentes” (“divortia are the bends of roads, that is, roads going in different directions”).^[11] The same noun gave French divorce and Spanish divorcio.^[6]

The verb divorziare is French divorcer (14th century), first adapted as divorzare and then remade after the noun.^[5] The simple verb has cognates in Sanskrit वर्तते (vártate, “turns”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽 (wairþan, “to become”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and the TLIO place the first record in the Tuscan translation of the Declamations of Seneca, in the sense “legal dissolution of a marriage”.^[5][4] The TLIO adds the broader sense “separation of things joined”, with the phrase fare divorzio, “to part”, in a Pisan poem of the early 14th century.^[4] Petrarch's divorzo means “departure”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word for any separation, and for the gap between intention and result.^[4] In the 16th century it was a term of hydraulics, the parting of waters,^[2] and Castiglione writes of the divorzio dei fiumi.^[12] Bernardo Davanzati uses it of the Roman divorce of Octavia.^[11] Tommaseo's dictionary (1861–1879) describes divorce as forbidden to Christians and banished by most modern legislators.^[13]

The 19th and 20th centuries brought the debate on civil divorce and its vocabulary: divorziare (1796), divorziato (as divorzato in 1802, divorziato in 1869), divorzista (1893) and divorzismo (1933).^[5] Panzini's dictionary of 1905 called divorzista an arbitrary coinage of short life, a remark dropped from 1927.^[5] Today the word also names a figurative split between partners, friends, parties or ideas.^[7][14]

Timeline

• 13th century – The Tuscan Declamations of Seneca give the first record.^[4][5]
• 14th century – Petrarch uses divorzo “departure”.^[12][15]
• 16th century – The hydraulic sense, the parting of waters, appears.^[2]
• 1796 – Divorziare is recorded.^[5]
• 1802 – Divorzato “divorced person” is recorded, divorziato in 1869.^[5]
• 1893 – Divorzista “supporter of divorce” is recorded.^[5]
• 1933 – Ardengo Soffici uses divorzismo.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) divorce, the legal dissolution of a marriage; the court ruling that ends its civil effects: Dopo dieci anni hanno chiesto il divorzio.^[7][14][3]
2. (by extension) A separation of people or things previously joined, often humorous: il divorzio del cantante dalla sua band.^[7][8][16]
3. (figurative) A split, conflict between abstract things: il divorzio tra teoria e pratica.^[7][8]

Word family

• divorziare
• divorziato
• divorzismo
• divorzista
• divorzistico
• divorziale

Related words

• divertire
• Latin dīvortium
• French divorce

Usage notes

Fare divorzio da means “to break with”: fare divorzio dal mondo.^[14][16] Divorzio breve is the recent legal procedure that shortens the time required.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1368
3. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ 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, 887
12. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 386
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ 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
15. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana