finta

Forms

finta f (plural finte)^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of finto, the past participle of fingere (“to pretend”), used as a noun.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The verb continues Latin fingō (“to shape; to invent, feign”).^[2][3][1] The same formation is Old French feinte, recorded in the 13th century, and Old Occitan fencha; as a term of fencing the French word is found from 1680.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the comedies of Giovanni Maria Cecchi, 1585, for the act of pretending.^[2][4] In one of them a character asks why the other put on that pretence with him (Perché fec'egli quella finta meco?).^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Torquato Tasso, before 1595, uses the word for a feigned move in battle, meant to mislead the enemy, the sense that passed into sport and above all fencing.^[2][9] DEI dates the military sense to the 17th century and the fencing sense to the 19th.^[6] In tailoring finta has meant since 1798 a strip of cloth that hides the buttonholes of a coat.^[2] The phrases fare finta “to pretend” and per finta “in jest” are among the commonest uses of the word.^[4][10]

German borrowed the fencing sense as Finte in 1619, and soon also used it for a trick or pretext.^[9] The word was also borrowed into Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan as finta, and into Dutch as fint.^[1]

Timeline

• 1585 – Giovanni Maria Cecchi uses finta for a pretence.^[2][4]
• Before 1595 – Tasso uses it for a feint in battle.^[2][9]
• 1619 – German Finte is recorded.^[9]
• 1798 – The tailoring sense appears in D'Alberti's dictionary.^[2]
• 19th century – The fencing sense is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. pretence, simulation: Il suo entusiasmo era solo una finta.^[4][5][11]
2. (military) A feigned attack meant to draw the enemy away from the real target.^[4][12][13]
3. (sports) A feint or dummy, a movement begun but not completed to deceive an opponent: Ha superato il portiere con una finta.^[4][5][11]
4. (tailoring) A strip of cloth covering the buttons or buttonholes of a garment; a fly.^[5][11][10]

Word family

• fintare
• controfinta

Related words

• finzione
• fingere
• finto

Usage notes

Fare finta di + infinitive means to pretend to do something, fare finta di niente to act as if nothing had happened, and per finta in jest or as a game.^[4][12][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1648
7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli