grido

Forms

grido m (plural (human shouts) grida f or (animal cries) gridi m)^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Italian gridare.^[2][3][4][1] DEI compares Old French cri (12th century), Old Occitan crit and Spanish grito.^[5][6]

Gridare is usually traced to a Vulgar Latin *critāre, for classical Latin quiritō (“to call for help”), a verb Nocentini explains as calling on the Quirītēs (“Roman citizens”) for aid.^[2][7][6] Because the Latin verb is so rarely used, G. Alessio preferred Late Latin quirritō (“to grunt”), of onomatopoeic origin.^[2] The REW also records a proposal by Grammont that derives the Romance verb from Germanic *kritan.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest dated sense is “fame, public talk”, in the Novellino of the late 13th century.^[2] The sense “loud cry” is first dated to Dante's Purgatorio (1313–1319): Cominciò da tutte parte un grido (“a cry began from every side”).^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also had the form crido.^[9] The word soon covered animal cries, the noise of wind and storm, and figurative appeals, such as the cry of oppressed peoples.^[4][10] The sense of fame, which Dante uses when he says that Giotto now has the grido, survives in di grido “famous”, dated from before 1641.^[11][2]

Grido di guerra, the cry that urges soldiers on, is recorded from 1798.^[2] L'ultimo grido, the latest novelty in fashion, renders French dernier cri and is dated 1905.^[2][12] From the plural grida the stock exchanges named their open-outcry dealing, contrattazioni alle grida (1956), where brokers shouted the prices, a method replaced by electronic trading in 1996.^[2][13]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses grido for fame.^[2]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses it for a loud cry.^[2][8]
• Before 1641 – Di grido “famous” is recorded.^[2]
• 1798 – Grido di guerra appears in M. Gioia.^[2]
• 1905 – L'ultimo grido is recorded as the Italian form of French dernier cri.^[2]
• 1956 – Grida is recorded for open-outcry dealing on the stock exchange.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cry or shout: a loud sound of the voice, often inarticulate: un grido di gioia, grido di battaglia.^[4][14][10]
2. The cry of an animal, especially a loud, shrill one: il grido della civetta.^[4][11][10]
3. (figurative) A long, mournful sound, such as that of the wind.^[4][15]
4. (figurative) An anguished appeal or lament, also in writing: il grido dei profughi.^[4][12][11]
5. (figurative) Fame, renown: di grido “famous”, l'ultimo grido “the latest fashion”.^[4][14][10]
6. (colloquial, in the plural) A scolding: sentirai le grida della mamma.^[4][10]
7. (finance, in the plural) alle grida: of dealing on a stock exchange by open outcry.^[15][13]

Word family

• gridolino

Related words

• gridare
• grida
• sgridare
• French cri

Usage notes

The noun has two plurals: le grida, mostly for human cries taken together, and i gridi, mostly for animal cries or for single human cries.^[12][11][10] The feminine noun grida “proclamation, edict” is a separate derivative of gridare.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1870
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 7, 42
10. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli