interesse

Forms

interesse m (plural interessi)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian interesso, Old Italian enteresse, Old Italian ’nteresse and Old Italian intheressu.^[2] The form in ⟨-o⟩ was in use from the 14th to the 17th century.^[3] Battaglia labels it old and popular Tuscan.^[4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Medieval Latin interesse, the infinitive of a Latin verb meaning “to be between; to take part; to matter”, used as a noun.^[5][6][7] The verb is a compound of inter- (“between”) and sum (“to be”).^[5][7][8] According to Nocentini, the Medieval Latin noun was a legal term for “benefit, advantage”, taken from the impersonal interest (“it matters, it concerns”), literally “it lies in between”.^[6] DEI and Battaglia place its use as a noun in the 13th century.^[3][4]

The impersonal form is the source of French intérêt, recorded in 1290, while Spanish interés corresponds to the Italian word.^[6][3] The verb interessare was formed from the noun, and interessante owes its modern sense to intéressant (1718), which is why the purist Cesari opposed it.^[5] Panzini granted that these words had long been taken from French but held that they were too well established to be condemned.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a letter written at Lucca in 1301, and the Old Italian texts use the word for the sum paid for the loan of money.^[2] DELI dates the form interesso to the 14th century (Corona de' monaci) and interesse to Matteo Villani, before 1363, in the same financial sense.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word belonged to trade and law: besides the interest on a loan it meant compensation for a loss, in the pair danno e interesse “damage and interest”, and a interesse di meant “for the benefit of”.^[2] Tommaseo's examples set it apart from usury, which was unlawful while interest was lawful.^[9]

The general sense “advantage, profit” appears in Luigi Pulci (before 1484) and Guicciardini (before 1540), “convenience” in Annibal Caro (1561), and the plural for a person's affairs and property before 1609.^[5] The sense “keen concern, attention” is recorded in Lionardo Salviati in 1566, but the purists of the early 19th century did not accept it.^[5] “Greed for gain” is recorded in Tommaseo's dictionary (1869).^[5]

The modern dictionaries divide the word between finance (tasso d'interesse “interest rate”, interesse composto “compound interest”), personal advantage (matrimonio d'interesse “marriage of convenience”) and curiosity or attention.^[7][10][11]

Timeline

• 1301 – A letter from Lucca is the first record.^[2]
• 14th century – The form interesso appears in the Corona de' monaci.^[5]
• Before 1363 – Matteo Villani uses interesse for interest on money.^[5][7]
• Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci has the sense “personal advantage”.^[5]
• 1566 – Lionardo Salviati uses it for keen concern or attention.^[5]
• Before 1609 – The plural is used for a person's affairs.^[5]
• 1756 – Interessante “arousing interest” is recorded.^[5]
• 1869 – Tommaseo's dictionary records the sense “greed for gain”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (finance) interest: the sum a debtor pays for money lent, usually a yearly percentage of the loan: La banca chiede un interesse del cinque per cento.^[7][10][12]
2. (in the plural) A person's or a body's affairs and property, and the running of them: Un avvocato cura gli interessi della famiglia.^[7][10][12]
3. Personal gain, self-interest, the wish for profit: Lo ha fatto solo per interesse.^[7][10][13]
4. Advantage or benefit, not only material: Te lo dico nel tuo interesse.^[7][12][11]
5. Attention, curiosity, a lively involvement in something or someone: Ho seguito la conferenza con grande interesse.^[7][8][13]
6. The quality of arousing attention, importance: una mostra di notevole interesse storico.^[8][13]

Word family

• interessare
• interessante
• interessamento
• interessato
• interessenza
• disinteresse
• disinteressato
• cointeressenza

Related words

• essere
• French intérêt
• Latin intersum

Usage notes

Conflitto di interessi is a conflict of interest.^[10][12] Interesse is masculine, with the plural interessi.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2063
4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 8, 230
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli