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ferita

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word ferita

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1219, Breve di Montieri
Ultimate origin
Latin feriō

Pronunciation

Forms

ferita f (plural ferite)[1] Old Italian also had feruta and fedita.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is formed from ferire “to wound” with the suffix of feminine past participles (from Italian ferire + -ita).[6][7][8][9][10] The form “feruta” has the other participle ending, “-uta”.[8][6]

The verb continues Latin feriō (“to strike, hit”), which in spoken Latin moved from “to strike” to “to wound”.[6][10][7] The same verb is French férir, now obsolete, Occitan ferir, Spanish herir and Portuguese ferir.[10] The variant “fedita” goes with Old Italian fedire, which has “d” by dissimilation of “r” before “r”.[10][5] De Vaan derives the Latin verb from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce, strike”), which also gave forō (“to bore”).[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Breve di Montieri, a Tuscan statute of 1219, with the sense of a cut or tear in the skin and the flesh beneath, made by a blunt or sharp object.[6][5][7] In the same text the verb ferire is first recorded.[6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, a deep grief or moral offence, appears as feruta in Giacomo da Lentini before 1250 and as ferita in Jacopone da Todi before 1306.[6] The TLIO lists the torment of love as the first figurative sense, beside moral or spiritual harm, sin and insult.[5] Old Italian also used ferita for the blow itself, and senza ferita meant “without bloodshed”.[5]

Dante writes in the Inferno of one “che ancor mirava sua ferita” (who was still gazing at his wound).[4] Today the word is also used in botany, for a cut in the bark or tissues of a plant, and in phrases such as leccarsi le ferite “to lick one's wounds” and riaprire una ferita “to reopen an old wound”.[7][8][3]

Timeline

  • 1219 – Ferita and ferire in the Breve di Montieri.[6][5]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses feruta in the figurative sense.[6]
  • Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses ferita in the figurative sense.[6]
  • Before 1472 – Ferimento “wounding” in Leon Battista Alberti.[6][10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A wound, a cut or tear in the skin and flesh caused by a weapon, a sharp object or a blow: Il medico gli ha medicato la ferita al braccio.[7][2][8][3]
  2. (botany) A cut or hole in the outer tissues of a plant.[7][2][3]
  3. (figurative) A deep sorrow or offence: La separazione è una ferita che non si è mai rimarginata.[7][2][8][3]

Word family

  • feritina
  • feritaccia

Usage notes

Ferita is also the feminine of the adjective and noun ferito “wounded”.[7][8][1] Common phrases are ferita d'arma da fuoco (gunshot wound), ferita superficiale and ferite d'amore (wounds of love).[7][3][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
Cite this entry

“Ferita.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/ferita. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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