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gratis

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word gratis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1498, Vespasiano da Bisticci
Borrowed from
Latin gratis
Ultimate origin
Latin grātus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gratis
Italian gratis

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡra.tis/[1]

Etymology

It is the adverb borrowed from Latin grātīs (“for nothing, free”), contracted from grātiīs, the ablative plural of grātia (“favour, kindness”): literally “out of kindness”.[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun comes from grātus (“pleasing”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH-.[1] D'Alberti called it a wholly Latin word that had become Italian.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record as an Italian adverb is in Vespasiano da Bisticci, before 1498, who says a pope gave a secretary his bulls gratis, free of charge.[2][5] The Latin phrase gratis data “freely given” (of divine grace) is already in Iacopone da Todi, before 1306.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Savonarola complained that what priests ought to give gratis had been sold, sacraments included.[5] Tommaseo compared the borrowing to omnibus, a Latin form taken whole into Italian, and recalled that Latin gratis could be paired with verbs of costing.[7] The jocular reinforcement gratis et amore Dei “free and for the love of God” is ironic or playful.[6][8][9] In colloquial use the word also serves as an invariable adjective, “free”.[4][10] French has had gratis since the 15th century.[5]

Timeline

  • Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses the Latin phrase gratis data.[2]
  • Before 1498 – Vespasiano da Bisticci uses gratis in Italian.[2][4]
  • 16th century – DEI's date for the adverb.[11]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. free of charge, without paying: I bambini viaggiano gratis.[4][10][12]
  2. Without being paid, for nothing: Mi ha aiutato gratis.[4][10]

Adjective

  1. (colloquial) Free, costing nothing (invariable): un ingresso gratis.[4][10][6]

Usage notes

Gratis et amore Dei (or gratis et amore) is a humorous way of saying “absolutely free”.[6][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  8. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  10. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1864
  12. ^ 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

“Gratis.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/gratis. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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