iettare

Forms

iettare (first-person singular present iètto or iétto, first-person singular past historic iettài, past participle iettàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ēiectāre (“to throw out”) in its central and southern outcome, the same Latin verb as gettare.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Zingarelli calls it the Neapolitan outcome, and Devoto a southern variant of the standard verb.^[5][7] Wiktionary derives it instead from iactō (“to throw”).^[1] The TLIO takes the standard verb from Vulgar Latin *iectāre, standing for the classical verb, a form that DEI, DELI and the GDLI hold to be unrecorded.^[8]

The Latin verb also gave French jeter, Catalan gitar and Spanish echar.^[9]

DELI explains the bad sense by the old and widespread belief that some people can “throw” their envy onto others with a look or with words.^[2] Wiktionary links it instead with throwing dice.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb first appears with the plain sense of gettare, “throw”, in the 13th-century Elegia giudeo-italiana: e tutti a mare se prisero iettare (“and they all set about throwing themselves into the sea”).^[2][10] About 1300 the Laudario urbinate uses it for shedding tears.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Jacopone da Todi has Lo viso ietta lacreme (“the face sheds tears”), and the Roman Storia de Troia e de Roma uses it for throwing entrails into the sea.^[10] The sense “cast the evil eye” is first recorded in 1841 by Basilio Puoti, who notes that it is used only in phrases such as Quegli me la ietta (“that man puts the evil eye on me”).^[2][10] Zingarelli dates the verb to before 1596, Sabatini–Coletti the modern word to before 1891.^[5][11]

The derivatives came from Naples: iettatura in Nicola Valletta's Cicalata sul fascino volgarmente detto jettatura (1787), iettatore in a subtitle of 1788, which Tommaseo still marked as Neapolitan in 1869.^[2] Iettatura took the wider sense “bad luck” by 1956, and iettato “jinxed” is recorded in 1931.^[2] French borrowed jettatura in 1817.^[12]

Timeline

• 13th century – The Elegia giudeo-italiana has iettare “throw”.^[2][10]
• c. 1300 – The Laudario urbinate uses it for shedding tears.^[2]
• 1787 – Iettatura appears in a Neapolitan essay by Nicola Valletta.^[2]
• 1788 – Iettatore is recorded at Naples.^[2]
• 1817 – French jettatura is first recorded.^[12]
• 1841 – Basilio Puoti records the sense “cast the evil eye”.^[2][10]
• 1931 – Iettato is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, regional, southern) To cast the evil eye on someone, to jinx.^{[3][13][5][4][1]}
2. (transitive, obsolete) To throw; to shed or pour.^[10][2]

Word family

• iettatura
• iettatore
• iettato
• iettatorio

Related words

• gettare
• iella

Usage notes

It is also spelled jettare.^[1] GRADIT marks it as regional, Devoto–Oli as uncommon.^[3][13] For the participle iettato “unlucky”, iellato is more common.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e f g Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)