Etymologically
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finale

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Pronunciation

Forms

finale m or f by sense (plural finali)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin fīnālis (“final; of boundaries”), from Latin fīnis (“end; boundary, limit”).[2][3][4][1] It is a learned word: in Latin the adjective first belonged to the land surveyors and meant “concerning boundaries”, and it is used for “concerning the end” from Macrobius on.[5][6] GDLI adds that it spread chiefly through medieval philosophy, where fīnis stood for the ultimate goal, rendering Ancient Greek τέλειος (téleios).[6] The same word is French final, recorded from the 12th century.[6][5]

The origin of the Latin noun is disputed: it may come from the root of fīgō (“to fix”) or from that of findō (“to split”).[1][7] The nouns grew out of the adjective.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Andrea da Grosseto (1268, Tuscan), in the sense “coming last in time or space, marking the completion of something”.[8] DELI's first is in Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294), and the sense “concerning the aim one pursues” is in Dante (1304–1308).[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already had the dì finale and the giudizio finale, the end of the world and the Last Judgement of Christian doctrine, and in philosophy the causa finale, the end towards which a thing tends.[8][5] Other old senses were “irrevocable” and “gravest, irreparable”, of a loss or misfortune.[8]

The masculine noun, the last part of something, is recorded before 1729 in Anton Maria Salvini.[2] In music it named the closing part of a piece from 1596, and, from 1785 the ensemble that ends an act of an opera;[9] in this sense it was borrowed into German (1619), English (finale, 1724) and French (1721).[9] The feminine finale, the deciding match after the eliminating rounds, appears in 1910 in Il Gazzettino,[2][9] with quarti di finale and semifinale for the earlier rounds.[6]

Soluzione finale is the name of the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews.[10][11]

Timeline

  • 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses finale for “last, concluding”.[8]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the adjective.[2]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “concerning the aim”.[2]
  • 1596 – The musical sense “closing part” is recorded.[9]
  • Before 1729 – Salvini uses the masculine noun for “ending”.[2]
  • 1785 – The operatic finale is recorded.[9]
  • 1910 – La finale of a competition appears in Il Gazzettino.[2]
  • 1970 – The fishing sense, the end of the line that holds the hook, enters the Zingarelli dictionary.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. final, last, coming at the end: il capitolo finale, il risultato finale.[4][11][10]
  2. Conclusive, decisive: il colpo finale.[4][11][12]
  3. Concerning an aim or purpose, (grammar) proposizione finale, a purpose clause.[4][11][10]

Noun

  1. (masculine) The ending, last part of a book, film, show or event: Il romanzo ha un finale che nessuno si aspetta.[4][12][1]
  2. (masculine, music) A finale, the closing section of a work or of an act of an opera.[6][1][9]
  3. (masculine, sport) The closing stage of a race; the ability to win it with a final burst.[4]
  4. (masculine, chess) The endgame.[4]
  5. (feminine, sport) The final, the deciding match or round of a competition: La squadra è arrivata in finale.[12][6][1]

Word family

  • finalista
  • finalissima
  • semifinale
  • finalità
  • finalizzare
  • finalmente
  • finalismo
  • finalino

Usage notes

The gender tells the nouns apart: il finale is the ending of a work or show, la finale the deciding match.[12][6] DEI also records a regional adjective finale “of the boundary”, from Emilia, from the Latin surveyors' word; it survives in the place name Finale.[5]

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. ^ 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. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1646
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ a b c d e f Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  10. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse