Etymologically
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importante

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Pronunciation

  • /im.porˈtan.te/[1]

Forms

importante m or f by sense (plural importanti, superlative importantissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is the present participle of importare “to matter”, used as an adjective: from Italian importare + -ante.[2][3][4][1] The verb is borrowed from Latin importō (“to bring in; to bring about”), formed from in- (“in”) and portō (“to carry”).[2][3] Nocentini explains that the Latin sense “to bring about, cause” moved to “to involve, concern”, and so to “to matter”.[3]

DELI, following Migliorini, regards the use of the adjective for a person or thing of consequence as an 18th-century Gallicism.[2] French important had itself been borrowed from Italian in the 15th and 16th centuries.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO has a plural importanti in the Florentine translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi (14th century).[6] DELI's first record is in Lorenzo de' Medici (1482–1484), in the sense “of great interest or weight”.[2] GDLI quotes him: “Forse saranno ancora scritte in questa lingua cose sottile ed importanti e degne d'essere lette” (perhaps subtle and important things, worthy of being read, will yet be written in this language).[7]

Semantic evolution

The noun l'importante “the main point” is recorded before 1535 in Francesco Berni.[2] The adjective is used of influential people and cities from 1602 (Cesare Campana), and of what gives social prestige from 1887.[2] Modern Italian also uses it for what is formal and elegant, such as a dinner or a dress, and, as a euphemism, for something large or noticeable, such as a nose.[8][4][9] French borrowed the noun l'important in 1630.[5]

Timeline

  • 14th century – The plural importanti appears in the Florentine Crescenzi.[6]
  • 1482–1484 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses importante “of great weight”.[2]
  • Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses l'importante “the main point”.[2]
  • 1602 – Cesare Campana uses the word of influential people and cities.[2]
  • 1630 – French borrows the noun l'important.[5]
  • 1887 – The sense “socially prestigious” is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. important, of great interest or consequence: È importante leggere bene il contratto.[8][4][9]
  2. Of a person, influential, having authority or fame.[8][4][9]
  3. Formal and elegant: un pranzo di nozze importante.[8][4][10]
  4. (euphemistic) Large, noticeable: Ha un naso piuttosto importante..[8][4][11]

Noun

  1. (singular only, with the article) The main thing, what matters most: L'importante è non perdere la calma.[8][4][11]
  2. fare l'importante, to give oneself airs.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  6. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 7, 495
  8. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli