Etymologically
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incredibile

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Pronunciation

  • /in.kreˈdi.bi.le/[1]

Forms

incredibile m or f by sense (plural incredibili, adverb incredibilmente)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin incrēdibilis (“unbelievable”), formed from in- (“not”) and crēdibilis (“believable”), from crēdō (“to believe, entrust”).[2][3][4][1][5] Latin later derived incrēdibilitās from it, the source of Italian incredibilità.[2] The Latin adjective is found from Plautus on.[6] Credere goes back to the compound Proto-Indo-European *ḱred-dʰeh₁- (“to put one's heart (in)”), that is “to believe”.[6]

Old Italian also had the forms Old Italian incredebile, Old Italian incredibole and Old Italian incredevile, the last with the ending of popular words.[4][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini dates the first record to 1260–1261, and GRADIT has the old variant incredebile before 1294.[3][4] DELI's first record is Dante (1300–1313): ma la cosa incredibile mi fece / indurlo ad ovra ch'a me stesso pesa (“but the unbelievable thing made me lead him to a deed that weighs on me”), where the sense is “impossible to believe”.[2][8][9]

Semantic evolution

Dante speaks again of cose incredibili in the Paradiso, and Petrarch of one come chi mai cosa incredibil vide (“like one who never saw a thing so unbelievable”).[8] Giordano da Pisa has the plural incredevili in 1305–1306.[2] An old sense “incredulous”, especially in matters of faith, is now obsolete.[10][11] The noun incredibilità is recorded before about 1451 in Giovanni Cavalcanti.[2]

In modern use the word is often hyperbolic, for something enormous or extraordinary, and it is common as an exclamation of surprise, incredibile! or è incredibile!.[4][12][13]

Timeline

  • 1260–1261 – First record.[3]
  • Before 1294 – The variant incredebile.[4]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses incredibile in the Inferno.[2]
  • 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses incredevili.[2]
  • Before c. 1451 – Incredibilità in Giovanni Cavalcanti.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Hard or impossible to believe; unbelievable, implausible: Mi ha raccontato una storia incredibile sul suo viaggio in Africa.[4][12][10][1]
  2. In impersonal phrases and exclamations, expressing surprise or indignation: È incredibile che nessuno se ne sia accorto prima![4][12][13]
  3. (hyperbolic) Very great, enormous: In quel periodo ho lavorato un numero incredibile di ore.[4][12][13]
  4. Extraordinary, exceptional: È una cantante di un talento incredibile.[4][12][10]
  5. (obsolete) Incredulous.[10][11]

Noun

  1. (singular only) What is hard to believe, in avere dell'incredibile, to seem almost unbelievable.[4][12]

Word family

  • incredibilità
  • incredibilmente

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 7, 754
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b c d e f 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 c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli