Etymologically
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finora

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Pronunciation

Forms

finora (invariable), also written fin ora or fino ad ora.[1][2] Old Italian also wrote finor and fine ora.[3]

Etymology

It is a compound from Italian fino + ora, the phrase meaning “until now” written as one word.[4][5][6][1][7] Sabatini–Coletti and Devoto–Oli derive it from the phrase with the preposition ⟨a⟩, later dropped; the GDLI calls it a compound by juxtaposition of fino and ora.[8][2][9][10] DEI lists the variants written separately, with and without the preposition, and the forms with ⟨da⟩ “from”, meaning “from now on”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Florentine poet Neri de' Visdomini, in the second half of the 13th century;[3][4][9][11] DELI and the GDLI quote Bonagiunta Monaco (14th century), whose heart has suffered “until now” for his lady, and Zingarelli dates the word to 1313.[3][4][9][11]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word in two directions of time: “up to this moment” and “from this moment, already”, and also as a conjunction “until”.[3] The second sense is Dante's Finor t'assolvo, “I absolve you from now on”, in the Inferno; it is now archaic and literary.[2][8] Ariosto and Leopardi still use it, but the modern word means only “so far, up to now”.[11][6][12]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – Neri de' Visdomini uses finora.[3]
  • 1313 – Zingarelli's date of first record.[11]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses finor in the sense “from now on”.[2][8]
  • 14th century – Bonagiunta Monaco uses it for “until now”.[4][9]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. So far, up to now, hitherto: Finora nessuno si è lamentato.[6][2][8]
  2. (archaic, literary) From now on, already: Dante's Finor t'assolvo.[2][8][6]

Usage notes

Sinora has the same meaning.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1648
  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 c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana