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grado

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Italian has two words spelled grado: the literary word for pleasure or liking, from Latin grātum, and the ordinary word for a step, degree or rank, from Latin gradus.[1][2][3]

grado1 pleasure

Pronunciation

Forms

grado m (plural gradi)[4]

Etymology

The word for pleasure is inherited from Latin grātum (“something pleasing”), the neuter of grātus (“welcome, pleasing; grateful”) used as a noun, which also gave the learned grato.[1][3][2][4] The ⟨d⟩ for Latin ⟨t⟩ shows that it came through the northern dialects, which voiced the consonant between vowels.[3][5][6] DEI and Meyer-Lübke think it came into Italian from Old Occitan grat, and DELI counts it among the words of Provençal courtly love that entered the first Italian poetry.[7][8][1]

The same Latin word is continued by Old French gré, kept in modern French phrases, and by Catalan grat, Spanish grado and Portuguese grado.[3][8][4] De Vaan traces grātus to Proto-Italic *gʷrāto- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥H-tó-s (“praised (in song)”), with Oscan and Paelignian relatives meaning “grace, mercy”.[9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI's first record is in Uguccione da Lodi, in the 13th century, and Nocentini puts the word at the beginning of that century.[7][3] DELI's first date is Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294, for “pleasure, goodwill”.[1][10]

Semantic evolution

In Dante the word means both “pleasure, will”, as in contra suo grado “against his will”, and “gratitude”.[2] Boccaccio and Alberti still use it for liking and consent.[10] The verb gradire “to welcome, accept gladly” is recorded in Guittone, before 1294, gradevole “pleasant” in the 14th century, and gradimento in Daniello Bartoli in 1661.[1] Meyer-Lübke traces gradire to Old Occitan gradir and malgrado “in spite of” to Old Occitan malgrat.[8]

Today the noun survives mainly in di buon grado “willingly”;[6][2][11] saper grado “to be grateful” and other phrases are archaic.[6][2][11]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the word.[7][3]
  • Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses grado and gradire.[1]
  • 14th century – Gradevole is recorded.[1]
  • 1661 – Gradimento is recorded in Daniello Bartoli.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (literary) pleasure, liking, will; now mainly in di buon grado, willingly: Ha accettato di buon grado di aiutarci.[2][6][12][11]
  2. (archaic) gratitude: saper grado a qualcuno, to be grateful to someone.[2][12][11]

Word family

  • gradire
  • gradito
  • gradevole
  • gradimento
  • sgradevole
  • sgradito

grado2 degree, step

Pronunciation

Forms

grado m (plural gradi)[4]

Etymology

The word for a degree is inherited from Latin gradus (“step, pace; stair; degree”), from the same stem as gradior (“to step, walk”).[1][3][2][4] Latin had already extended it from a step on a stair to “pace”, a division of a circle and a degree of kinship, the last introduced by the jurists about 200 AD.[1][7] The same word is French degré, formed with a prefix, Occitan gra, Catalan grau, Spanish grado and Portuguese grau.[3][8][13]

De Vaan derives the Latin noun and verb from a stem Proto-Italic *grad-.[9] Earlier handbooks linked it to Germanic and Slavic words for “step” and “to come”, but these are now traced to a different root, and the further origin is unclear.[9] Nocentini compares Lithuanian and Old Irish verbs of moving and chasing.[3] The Latin verb has no Romance descendants, but its compounds gave aggredire, progredire and trasgredire.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the word to about 1260–1261.[3] DELI's first record is Brunetto Latini, before 1294, for a person's place in a hierarchy, and Dino Compagni, 1310–1312, for any intermediate point on the way from one state to another.[1][14]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used grado for a stair, with a plural gradora in the Novellino and in Pisan texts.[10][7] The technical senses followed one another: a ranking (before 1342, Cavalca), a degree of kinship (before 1348, Giovanni Villani), a degree of angle (14th century, Bible translations), a measure of wine strength (before 1468, Michele Savonarola), a degree of temperature (before 1660, Francesco Redi) and, in grammar, a degree of comparison (before 1612, Guarini).[1] In mountaineering, the scale of climbing difficulty in grades is recorded in 1953, and the settimo grado, once the top of the scale, has been dropped by climbers but lives on as a metaphor.[1]

Gradino “step” is a diminutive of the first half of the 17th century, and gradinata “flight of steps” is recorded in Daniello Bartoli in 1660.[3][1] French grade (1578) may come from Italian or from Latin.[14]

Timeline

  • c. 1260–1261 – The word is first recorded.[3]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for rank.[1]
  • 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for a stage between two states.[1]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for a degree of kinship.[1]
  • 14th century – Bible translations use it for a degree of angle.[1]
  • Before 1612 – Guarini uses it for a grammatical degree.[1]
  • 1660 – Gradinata is recorded in Daniello Bartoli.[1]
  • 1953 – The grades of climbing difficulty are recorded.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A stage or level in a progression: Abbiamo raggiunto un buon grado di intesa, per gradi, step by step.[2][12][6]
  2. A place in a scale or ranking: un'ustione di secondo grado, la scuola di primo grado.[2][12][6]
  3. rank in a civil or military hierarchy; in the plural, the insignia of rank: È stato promosso al grado di capitano.[2][6][4]
  4. Social standing: persone di umile grado.[2][1]
  5. (law) Degree of kinship: cugini di primo grado.[12][1]
  6. A unit of measure: a degree of angle or of temperature; the alcohol content of a drink.[2][1][4]
  7. (grammar) Degree of comparison of an adjective.[12][1]
  8. essere in grado di: to be able to, to be in a position to: Non sono in grado di risponderti adesso.[12][2]

Word family

  • gradino
  • gradinata
  • gradazione
  • graduale
  • gradualmente
  • graduare
  • graduatoria
  • gradiente
  • gradone

Usage notes

Malgrado “in spite of” is formed from mal grado “against one's will”.[11][8] An old variant of grado “pleasure” is grato.[11][6] The TLIO records a grado meaning “beach” in place names, from Old Occitan grau.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  8. ^ a b c d e Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  14. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  15. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it