Etymologically
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gratis

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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