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fortunato

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word fortunato

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
late 13th century, Dante da Maiano
Borrowed from
Latin fortunatus
Ultimate origin
Latin fors
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fortunatus
English fortunate
Italian fortunato
From the same root
English unfortunate ← fortunate

Pronunciation

  • /for.tuˈna.to/[1]

Forms

fortunato (feminine fortunata, masculine plural fortunati, feminine plural fortunate, superlative fortunatissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin fortūnātus (“prosperous, lucky, happy”), the past participle of fortūnō (“to make prosperous”), from fortūna (“chance, luck”).[2][3][4][1] Italian fortuna continues the same noun, and DELI, Nocentini and the TLIO treat the adjective as its derivative.[5][6][7]

The Latin noun comes from fors (“chance”).[5][6] De Vaan reconstructs the noun Proto-Italic *forti- (“luck”) and derives it, with some doubt, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥-ti- (“bearing”), from the root of ferō (“to carry”);[8] Ernout and Meillet reject that connection.[8] Nocentini also derives it from that verb.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Florentine poet Dante da Maiano at the end of the 13th century;[7][5][2] DELI's is in Dante, and GRADIT dates it to 1313–1319.[7][5][2] The early texts use it of people who enjoy success and of the souls in Purgatory, destined for bliss.[7]

Semantic evolution

Like fortuna, which in Old Italian meant “fate” of either kind and also “storm”, the adjective could once mean “ill-fated” and “stormy”, as well as “happening by chance”.[7][9][5] These senses are now obsolete, and the word means only “lucky”.[9][10] Petrarch speaks of “benigne stelle” attending the fortunato fianco that bore Laura, and Guicciardini of a man fortunato in una cosa e infortunato in un'altra.[11]

It is also a polite formula of introduction, fortunato di conoscerla, now somewhat dated.[2][12] The proverb fortunato in amor non giochi a carte warns the lucky in love away from gambling.[9]

Timeline

  • Late 13th century – Dante da Maiano uses fortunato.[7]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for someone favoured by fortune.[5]
  • 1313–1319 – GRADIT's date of first record.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. lucky, fortunate, favoured by luck: Sei fortunato ad avere un lavoro così.[2][12][13][1]
  2. Successful, turning out well: un'impresa fortunata; popular: un romanzo fortunato.[2][12][9]
  3. Bringing luck: Il sette è il suo numero fortunato..[2][12]
  4. Marked by happy events: un anno fortunato.[2][12]
  5. (polite, dated) In introductions: Fortunato di conoscerla! “pleased to meet you”.[2][12][1]
  6. (obsolete) Stormy; ill-fated.[9][10][7]

Noun

  1. A lucky person: Pochi fortunati hanno trovato i biglietti.[9][10]

Word family

  • infortunato
  • fortunatamente
  • sfortunato
  • fortunatissimo

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 229
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Fortunato.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/fortunato. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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