Etymologically
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fortunato

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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