Etymologically
Log in

domenica

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 20:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /doˈme.ni.ka/[1]

Forms

domenica f (plural domeniche)[1] Old forms include Old Italian dominica, Old Italian domenega, Old Italian domenga and Old Italian duminica.[2] Southern dialects have derivatives such as Sicilian duminicarìa.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin dominica (“the Lord's (day)”), short for diēs dominica (“the day of the Lord”).[4][5][6][1] The adjective Latin dominicus (“of a master; of the Lord”) is a derivative of dominus (“master, lord”), itself from domus (“house”).[4][7] The Christian name is a calque of Ancient Greek κυριακή (kuriakḗ) (with ἡμέρα (hēméra, “day”) understood), from κύριος (kúrios, “lord”).[6][8][3] It is already used by Tertullian, and Constantine put it in the place of Latin diēs sōlis (“day of the sun”), the name kept in German Sonntag and English Sunday.[3][5][9]

The word is panromance: French dimanche, Occitan dimenge, Catalan diumenge, Spanish domingo, Portuguese domingo, Sardinian domìniga and Romanian duminică.[5][10][11] It is feminine in Italian, Sardinian and Romanian because Latin “diēs” could be feminine, while Spanish and Portuguese “domingo” continues the masculine “diēs dominicus”.[5][11] The masculine Old French “diemanche” puzzled Meyer-Lübke, who thought it might come from a masculine form.[10] De Vaan explains “dominus” as “he of the house”, from Proto-Italic *domono- or *domuno-;[7] Pinault's reconstruction “*dom-h₃n-o-” “who profits from the house” is possible but not required.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Latin form dominica appears in the 11th-century Umbrian confession formula, and DELI dates the Italian form domenica to about 1225, in Garzo.[4][12] The TLIO's first record is the Monza Glossary of the 10th century.[2][8] The sense in all of them is the day of the week dedicated by Christians to worship and rest.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian texts already explain the name: Bono Giamboni writes that the Roman Church moved the day of rest from the Sabbath to Sunday in honour of God, “because Christ rose from death on that day”.[13] The Novellino tells of a blacksmith who worked all the time and kept neither Sunday nor Easter.[13] Feast names followed: domenica delle palme or dell'ulivo (Antonio Pucci) for Palm Sunday, domenica di passione in the 14th century, and the northern domenica delle nòva for Easter, after the custom of distributing blessed eggs.[3]

The adjective domenicale “of Sunday” is recorded in the 14th century, and Pirandello used it in the sense “cheerful, carefree”.[4] Modern Italian uses della domenica for an amateur (pittore della domenica), vestito della domenica for one's Sunday best, and nato di domenica for a lucky person.[12][14][15] The word was borrowed into Lombard as dümìnica and into Piedmontese as duminica.[1]

Timeline

  • 10th century – The Monza Glossary is the TLIO's first record of the word.[2]
  • 11th century – Dominica appears in the Umbrian confession formula.[4][5]
  • c. 1225 – Garzo uses the form domenica.[4]
  • 14th century – The adjective domenicale is recorded in the vernacular Gospels.[4][5]
  • 1328 – Medieval Latin dominica ovorum “Sunday of the eggs” is recorded in Friuli.[3]
  • 1879 – Indomenicato “dressed in one's Sunday best” is first recorded.[5]
  • Before 1936 – Pirandello uses domenicale for “cheerful, carefree”.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Sunday: the seventh day of the civil week and the first of the liturgical one, which follows sabato.[6][8][1]
  2. Among Christians, the holy day of rest and worship: Di domenica il negozio resta chiuso.[6][9][14]
  3. (by extension) A day of festa: Per lui ogni giorno è domenica.[8][9]

Word family

  • domenicale
  • indomenicato

Usage notes

La domenica or di domenica means “on Sundays”, domenica alone “this (coming or last) Sunday”.[6][14] Della domenica after a noun marks an amateur or a bungler (automobilista della domenica).[12][14][15] With a capital, Domenica is a female given name.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1377
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c 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 Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ 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, 927
  14. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli