eppure

Etymology

It is from Italian e + pure, the conjunction and the adverb written as one word, with the doubled consonant that follows the conjunction in pronunciation.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The adverb pure continues Latin pūrē (“purely, simply”), the adverb of pūrus (“clean, pure”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to cleanse”).^[2][3][1][6] REW lists the compound, “and yet”, under the Latin adverb.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the sermons of Giordano da Pisa (before 1311), with the sense “nevertheless, all the same”: speaking of a place where the water has changed a thousand times, he says “and yet that place, and this, the sky gives” (Eppure quello luogo, e questo dá il cielo).^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same since Old Italian, and the older spelling e pure remained in literary use.^[9][10] Alfieri, Manzoni, Leopardi and Pascoli all use it, in verse and prose.^[9] In exclamations it reasserts a point, reproaches or expresses regret.^[4][11]

Timeline

• Before 1311 – Giordano da Pisa uses eppure.^[2]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. yet, and yet, nevertheless, all the same: Studia poco, eppure prende bei voti.^[4][12][1]
2. (in exclamations) Used to insist on a point, or to reproach or express regret: Eppure ti avevo chiesto di non farlo!^[4][11][13]

Related words

• pure
• e
• oppure
• seppure
• purtroppo

Usage notes

Eppur si muove! (“and yet it moves”), the words Galileo is said to have spoken about the Earth after his recantation, is used jokingly against someone who denies the obvious.^[5][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ 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 Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli