entro

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin intrō (“inside, to the inside”).^[2][3][4][1] The TLIO adds the influence of inter (“between”).^[5] Romanian întru is the same word, and REW also cites Old Spanish entro (“until”).^[3][6]

The Latin adverb and intrā (“within”) are old ablatives of an adjective *interus (“inner”), formed from in (“in”) with the suffix ⟨-ter⟩ of contrast and parallel to exterus (“outer”).^[3][2][7] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁énteros (“inner”), and Nocentini compares Ancient Greek ἔντερον (énteron, “intestine”).^[1][3]

entroterra is modelled on German Hinterland, and entrobordo on fuoribordo.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Ritmo di sant'Alessio, a poem from the Marche of the late 12th century, as an adverb “inside”.^[5] DELI dates the adverb to Bono Giamboni (before 1292) and the preposition “inside, in” to Cecco Angiolieri (before 1313), who wrote that if he met his lady entro la via (in the street) he would hardly know her.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used entro with many other words: d'entro “from inside” and “inner”, per entro “through”, entro a and entro in, as in Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio.^[5][9][10] The time sense “before the end of” is recorded in Daniello Bartoli, before 1685.^[2] Tommaseo noted that the adverb without a following noun was by then used only in verse.^[9] Today the time sense is the usual one, and the spatial sense is literary.^[11][12][1]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Ritmo di sant'Alessio has the first record.^[5]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses entro as an adverb.^[2]
• Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses it as a preposition.^[2][8]
• Before 1685 – Daniello Bartoli uses it for “before the end of”.^[2]
• 1942 – Entroterra and entrobordo are recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Preposition

1. Of time, within, by, no later than: Devo finire la relazione entro venerdì.^{[4][12][13][10][1]}
2. (literary) Of place, inside, within, also followed by a or di: entro le mura della città.^{[4][12][13][1]}
3. (literary) Among, between.^[4][12][13]
4. In entro certi limiti, within limits, to some extent.^[12][11]

Adverb

1. (literary or rare) Inside, especially after another adverb: qua entro, là entro.^{[4][10][11][1]}

Word family

• entroterra
• entrobordo

Related words

• dentro
• entrare
• interno
• Latin intro

Usage notes

In popular Tuscan entro is also a shortened past participle of entrare, “entered”.^[14][9] Entro e non oltre (by and no later than) is used for deadlines.^[12][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1488