durezza

Forms

durezza f (plural durezze)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dūritia (“hardness”), a noun formed on dūrus (“hard”), the source of duro.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun is dūrus with the suffix -itia.^[1][5] DEI calls the form in -itia Late Latin beside a classical dūritiēs, but de Vaan records dūritia from Plautus on.^[6][7]

The same Latin word gave Old Occitan dureza, Spanish dureza, Portuguese dureza and Catalan durea.^[8] Old Italian also had a learned form Old Italian durizia, taken straight from Latin in the 14th century.^[6][9]

De Vaan traces dūrus through Proto-Italic *dūro- to Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-ro- (“far, long”), which also gave Ancient Greek δηρός (dērós, “long”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a poem of Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, in the form dureza: if tears can break the hardness of the diamond, the poet says, they may also bend his lady's pride (del diamante frange la dureze).^[2][9][10] The sense is physical: stiffness to the touch and resistance to breaking.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word for physical vigour, for stiffness of movement and, in medicine, for a diseased hardening of the body's tissues.^[9] From the 14th to the 17th century it also meant a small tumour, as Old French durece did in the 13th century.^[6] The moral senses came early: Dante uses it for obstinacy before 1321, and in love poetry it is the coldness of the lady who rejects her lover.^[2][9] Stare in durezza meant to show hostility to someone.^[2][9]

In mineralogy the hardness of a material is its resistance to scratching and penetration, measured on scales such as Mohs's ten minerals from talc to diamond.^[11][12] The hardness of water, its content of calcium and magnesium salts, is recorded from 1920.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses dureza of the diamond's hardness.^[2][9]
• 1303–1306 – Giordano da Pisa writes the form durezza.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the word for obstinacy.^[2]
• 1300s – The learned durizia appears beside it.^[6]
• 1920 – Donnini uses durezza for the hardness of water.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. hardness: the quality of being hard; of a solid, its resistance to scratching, abrasion, penetration or deformation: la durezza del granito.^[4][11][13]
2. (chemistry) The hardness of water: its content of calcium and magnesium salts, which keep soap from lathering and leave scale when it boils.^[14][15][2]
3. (figurative) harshness, severity; strictness or coldness in behaviour, speech or expression; insensitivity: rispose alla sorella con durezza.^[4][13][11]
4. (figurative) obstinacy, stubbornness.^[4][14]
5. Harshness of the climate: la durezza degli inverni di montagna.^[4][14]
6. (figurative) Difficulty, heaviness of a task or situation.^[4][13][16]
7. (figurative) Lack of grace or delicacy, as in a style or a drawing.^[11]

Related words

• duro
• durità
• duramente
• Latin dūritia
• Spanish dureza

Usage notes

Scala di durezza, also called scala di Mohs, is the ranking of ten minerals, from talc to diamond, by their resistance to scratching.^[11][12] Chemists distinguish the durezza temporanea and the durezza permanente of water.^[4]

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. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1404
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli