Etymologically
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indietro

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Pronunciation

  • /inˈdjɛ.tro/, /inˈdje.tro/[1]

Forms

indietro (invariable); also written in dietro.[1][2] Old forms include Old Italian indreto, indrieto and indirieto.[3][4][5]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *in dē retrō, a phrase made of Latin in (“in”), dē (“from”) and retrō (“backwards, behind”).[6][7][8][1] Wiktionary and Gabrielli describe it instead as formed in Italian from in and dietro, which itself goes back to the phrase Late Latin dē retrō.[1][9][6]

DELI and Devoto trace the sound changes: ⟨*in d(e)retro⟩ lost a vowel and its first ⟨r⟩ by dissimilation, giving ⟨*indetro⟩, and the ⟨e⟩ became the diphthong ⟨ie⟩ before ⟨-tr-⟩, as in an open syllable.[6][10] Körting sets the same phrase behind Romanian îndărăt.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Dante's Convivio, 1304–1308, in the sense “towards what lies behind”.[6][7] GDLI quotes it: “sì come dormire lo die e vegghiare la notte, e andar indietro e non innanzi” (like sleeping by day and staying awake at night, and walking backwards and not forwards).[5]

Semantic evolution

Pietro Bembo distinguished addietro, which shows position, from indietro, which shows movement, but the modern language uses indietro for both.[6][8] Figurative senses grew from “behind”: late (essere indietro col lavoro), slow on a clock, backward or undeveloped (un paese indietro), and slow-witted in familiar use.[8][12][4] Many verbs form phrases with it, such as dare indietro “to give back”, volere indietro “to want back” and tirarsi indietro “to back out”.[8][12] Fare marcia indietro and fare macchina indietro, “to reverse” and figuratively “to back down”, come from the technical language of motoring.[6] The verb indietreggiare “to draw back” is recorded from the 14th century.[6]

Timeline

  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses indietro in the Convivio.[6]
  • 14th century – indietreggiare appears in the Storia di Rinaldo da Montalbano.[6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. back, backwards: towards or in the place behind someone or something: Non guardare indietro.[8][3][2]
  2. (figurative) behind, late compared with what was expected: Sono indietro con gli esami.[8][3][12]
  3. Of a clock, slow: La sveglia è dieci minuti indietro.[8][12][4]
  4. With verbs, back to the giver: dare indietro, volere indietro, mandare indietro (to give back, want back, send back).[8][3][12]

Adjective

  1. (invariable) Backward, little developed: una regione ancora indietro.[8]

Interjection

  1. Back!: an order to move back: Indietro, lasciate passare![8][2]

Word family

  • indietreggiare

Usage notes

All'indietro means “backwards” (cadere all'indietro), and avanti e indietro “to and fro”.[3][12][9] The stressed vowel is open in the traditional pronunciation and close in parts of the north.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ 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, 800
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  12. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Canepari, Luciano, DiPI: Dizionario di pronuncia italiana, online ed., dipionline.it