finto

Forms

finto (feminine finta, masculine plural finti, feminine plural finte)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian fento and Old Italian fente.^[2] An old form Old Italian fitto is also recorded.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Italian fingere: the past participle of the verb, used as an adjective and a noun.^{[5][6][7][8][1]}

The participle goes back to Late Latin finctus, recorded from the 6th century, which was formed on the present fingō with its ⟨-n-⟩ in place of classical Latin fictus.^[1][4][9] Devoto explains the change by the clash of the classical form with the identical participle of fīgō (“to fix, drive in”).^[9][10] The same form is French feint, Lombard fint and Piedmontese fint.^[1] DEI adds that the ⟨-n-⟩ spread to popular forms of ficticius, such as Milanese fencìs, Venetian fentizo and Old French feintiz.^[4]

The Latin verb, “to form, shape”, goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- “to knead clay”, with the nasal present *dʰi-n-ǵʰ-.^[11][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Pistole di Seneca, a Florentine text dated before 1325 with a query, where it means “not true, false” and also “made up by the imagination”.^[2] DELI dates the sense “the fruit of pretence and deceit” to the late 14th century, in a vernacular Bible.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “false, feigned” still leads: a vernacular Bible speaks of carità non finta (“love unfeigned”), and Savonarola calls for una vera penitenzia e non finta.^[13] Ariosto used the word for a false, hypocritical person in 1516, and in 1585 Garzoni for something artificial.^[12]

In 1699 Corsini used it for what is done only for practice or play, the sense of a finta battaglia, a military exercise.^[12][8] Today it is also put before a noun for someone who pretends to be what he is not (finto cieco, fare il finto tonto), and in front of a style for an imitation (mobili finto rustico).^[14][15][16] The feminine noun finta “feint, pretence” is recorded from 1585.^[12][5]

Timeline

• Before 1325 – The Pistole di Seneca use finto for “false”.^[2]
• Late 14th century – A vernacular Bible uses it for “feigned, deceitful”.^[12][13]
• 1516 – Ariosto uses it for a false, hypocritical person.^[12]
• 1585 – Garzoni uses it for “artificial, false”.^[12]
• 1585 – The noun finta is first recorded.^[12][5]
• 1699 – Corsini uses it for something done only for practice or play.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not real, fake, artificial: denti finti, fiori finti; a painted porta finta on a wall.^{[14][6][7][8]}
2. Done in pretence or for practice, simulated: finta battaglia, finto attacco.^[14][6][8]
3. Of a person, insincere, hypocritical; of feelings, feigned: un pianto finto.^{[14][6][7][15]}
4. Before a noun, pretending to be such: finto medico, fare il finto tonto.^[14][16][6]
5. Of a style, not authentic, imitation: mobili finto antico.^[14][15][6]

Noun

1. A false person, a hypocrite.^{[6][7][15][17]}
2. (masculine singular) What is not true or authentic, as opposed to what is true.^[7][15][17]

Word family

• finta
• fintamente
• fintaggine
• finteria
• fintino
• fintone
• fintaccio

Related words

• fingere
• finzione
• fintare
• Latin fingo

Usage notes

Finto is also the past participle of fingere and fingersi.^[14] Put after the noun it means “insincere” (un amico finto); put before it, “pretending to be” (un finto idraulico).^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1648
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 184
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
14. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli