Etymologically
Log in

indiano

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Italian word indiano

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1336, Giovanni Boccaccio
Borrowed from
Latin indianus
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek Ἰνδία

Pronunciation

  • /inˈdja.no/[1]

Forms

indiano (feminine indiana, masculine plural indiani, feminine plural indiane)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin indiānus (“of India”), a learned word formed on Latin India.[2][3][4][5][6] The Late Latin adjective took the place of older Indus according to DELI, of Indicus according to Nocentini and DEI.[2][3][6] The name of the country is Ancient Greek Ἰνδία (Indía).[3][6] The same adjective is French indien and Spanish indiano, and it spread to the other European languages.[3]

The use of the word for the native peoples of America goes back to the error of Christopher Columbus, who believed he had reached India;[2][3] America was long called the West Indies.[2][3] A variant indiatico, in a letter of Filippo Sassetti from 1585, is very probably Portuguese indiático.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Boccaccio (about 1336), meaning “of India”; he describes a figure dressed in cloth shining with Indian gold.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

About 1495 Michele da Cuneo, who sailed with Columbus, uses the word for the natives of America, and the two senses have lived side by side since.[2][3] The idiom fare l'indiano, “to play dumb”, comes from the European picture of the natives of the West Indies as dazed and absent; in 1583 Tommaso Garzoni already compares fools to men come from the Indies.[2][3] DEI dates the phrase to the 17th century, and Manzoni uses it in I promessi sposi.[6][8]

The feminine noun indiana, a printed cotton cloth, is recorded in Francesco Redi in 1674 and comes from French indienne (1632).[2][3] In the 1970s the indiani metropolitani were a far-left protest movement whose members painted their faces like Native American warriors.[7]

Timeline

  • About 1336 – Boccaccio uses indiano “of India”.[2][4]
  • About 1495 – Michele da Cuneo applies it to the natives of America.[2]
  • 1583 – Tommaso Garzoni attests the stereotype behind fare l'indiano.[2]
  • 1585 – Filippo Sassetti writes the variant indiatico.[2]
  • 1674 – Francesco Redi records indiane for printed cotton cloth.[2]
  • 1970s – The indiani metropolitani protest movement takes its name.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Indian: of India: La cucina indiana usa molte spezie.[4][9][10]
  2. Of the native peoples of the Americas, especially of North America: Visitammo un villaggio indiano nel Dakota.[4][9][5]
  3. Of the Indian Ocean and its coasts.[4]
  4. In fila indiana: in single file, one behind the other.[9][5]

Noun

  1. A native or inhabitant of India.[4][9][10]
  2. A Native American, an American Indian; pellerossa: Da bambini giocavamo agli indiani in giardino.[4][9][10]
  3. (linguistics) The Indo-Aryan languages of India, from Vedic and Sanskrit to the modern languages: indiano antico.[4][9][10]

Word family

  • indianista
  • indianismo
  • indianistica
  • indianizzare
  • indianeggiante
  • India
  • indiana
  • indaco
  • indico

Usage notes

Fare l'indiano means to pretend not to know or not to understand something.[9][5] Italian uses the same word for the people of India and for the native peoples of America;[3][10][5] amerindio and pellerossa name only the latter.[3][10][5]

References

  1. ^ a b 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 d e f g h i j k Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  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. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2002
  7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  8. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 555
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Indiano.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/indiano. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·