Etymologically
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fretta

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Pronunciation

Forms

fretta f (plural frette)[1] Older forms include Old Italian freta, frecta and fricta.[2]

Etymology

Most etymologists derive it from the verb frettare, which continues Vulgar Latin *frictāre, an intensive of Latin fricō (“to rub”).[3][4][5][6][1] The same Vulgar Latin verb is continued by Old French freter, French frotter and Old Occitan fretar (“to rub”), although Meyer-Lübke found the French forms hard to explain.[5][7]

DELI raises two objections: the meaning does not fit well, and the verb is first recorded only in 1614, as a sailors' word for scrubbing a ship's deck, while the noun is found from the 13th century.[8] Prati had already noted that the verb is late and probably Genoese.[9] Nocentini answers that the nautical verb is a late specialisation which implies that the Vulgar Latin verb lived on unrecorded, and he explains the meaning through a vulgar sense “to have sex”, which led to “to be in a rage” and then “to be impatient”, as in furia beside foia and in fregola.[5] GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti call the origin uncertain.[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Andrea da Grosseto's translation of Albertano (1268).[2] Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto advises that mastery “fa 'ndugiar vendetta, / e alungar la fretta” (makes vengeance wait and puts off haste).[12][13] DELI dates the sense “urgency” to Bono Giamboni (before 1292) and “speed of movement” to Dante (before 1321).[8]

Semantic evolution

Dante writes of two souls who showed “gran fretta / dell'animo” (great eagerness of mind) to reach him, and the Fiore di virtù names haste with anger and greed as the three enemies of good counsel.[12] Old Italian already had the adverbial phrases in fretta, a fretta and per fretta, and fare fretta or porre fretta for urging someone on.[2]

The adjective frettoloso is recorded before 1313, and Boccaccio used the older frettoso.[8][9] Modern Italian keeps avere fretta, essere di fretta and in fretta e furia (in a great rush).[10][14]

Timeline

  • 1266 – Zingarelli's date for the word.[14]
  • 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses fretta.[2]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “urgency”.[8]
  • Before 1313 – Frettoloso is recorded.[8]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for speed.[8]
  • 1614 – Frettare is first recorded, in Pantera's nautical work.[8][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. hurry, haste; the need or wish to do something quickly: Scusa, ho fretta, Non c'è fretta.[10][6][11][14]
  2. Speed in acting or moving, often too much: Ha finito il compito troppo in fretta.[10][6][11]

Word family

  • frettoloso
  • affrettare
  • frettoso

Usage notes

Common phrases are avere fretta (to be in a hurry), fare fretta a qualcuno or mettere fretta (to rush someone), andare di fretta and in fretta e furia.[10][14][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1716
  4. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 466
  10. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 356
  13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  14. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana