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innocente

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word innocente

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1300–1313, Dante
Borrowed from
Latin innocens
Ultimate origin
Latin noceō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin innocens
French innocent
Italian innocente

Pronunciation

  • /in.noˈt͡ʃɛn.te/[1]

Forms

innocente m or f by sense (plural innocenti, superlative innocentissimo)[1] Old Italian also had innociente and the shorter nocente.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin innocēns (“harmless; blameless”), formed in- (“not”) and nocēns (“harmful; guilty”), the present participle of noceō (“to harm”): literally “one who does no harm”.[4][5][6][1] The noun innocenza is innocentia.[4] The same Latin word gave French innocent, recorded about 1080, and Spanish inocente.[5][2] The verb is continued in nuocere.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Dante, 1300–1313, in the sense “not guilty”;[4][6][7] GRADIT dates the word before 1313 and Zingarelli to 1268.[4][6][7] In Inferno 33 Dante pleads for Ugolino's sons: Innocenti facea l'età novella, “their young age made them innocent”.[8]

Semantic evolution

Before 1338 Bindo Bonichi used the word for someone who does not know evil, and Giovanni Villani before 1348 for words or acts without malice.[4] Dante also used it as a noun for a guiltless person, and Giordano da Pisa in 1304 for the children of Bethlehem killed by Herod.[4] The feast of the Holy Innocents is named in the 14th century;[2] DEI notes that the Roman Church called them innocentes where other Latin churches said infantes.[2] Through them the word came to mean any child, and in Tuscany a foundling, as in Florence's Spedale degli Innocenti.[4][9][10]

From the 18th century the word also meant “simple-minded”, a sense common in many dialects, which also reached the Sardinian of Campidano.[2] In the 17th century all'innocente was a fashion of wide women's dresses without a belt, after French robe à l'innocente.[2] The pair innocentisti and colpevolisti, those who believe a defendant innocent or guilty before the verdict, arose during the Graziosi trial of November 1947.[4] German music took innocente as a direction, “to be played simply”.[11]

Timeline

  • 1268 – First date given by Zingarelli.[7]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante uses innocente “not guilty”.[4]
  • 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for the Holy Innocents.[4]
  • Before 1338 – Bindo Bonichi uses it for someone who knows no evil.[4]
  • 1947 – Innocentista arises during the Graziosi trial.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. innocent, not guilty, free of moral or legal blame: L'imputato si è sempre dichiarato innocente.[6][12][13]
  2. Who has done no wrong in general: sangue innocente, the blood of the guiltless.[6][12]
  3. Who does not know evil, free of malice; naive: era innocente come un neonato.[6][12][9]
  4. Of looks, words or acts, showing no malice: Era solo una domanda innocente.[6][12][7]
  5. (literary, archaic) Harmless.[12][7][13]

Noun

  1. An innocent person: Hanno condannato un innocente.[12][13]
  2. A child, la strage degli innocenti, the Massacre of the Innocents.[6][12][7]
  3. (Tuscan) A foundling brought up in an orphanage.[6][7][13]
  4. (ironic) Someone who plays the innocent: Non fare l'innocente![6][12][10]

Word family

  • innocenza
  • innocentemente
  • innocentista
  • innocentismo
  • innocentino
  • innocentone

Usage notes

Innocente is the opposite of colpevole.[7] A proverb: meglio assolvere un reo che condannare un innocente.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2038
  3. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 8, 38
  9. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

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

“Innocente.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/innocente. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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