intra

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin intrā (“within, inside”), originally the feminine ablative of an adjective *interus (“inner”), derived from inter (“between, among”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Wiktionary derives the Italian sense “between” from the Latin preposition with that meaning.^[1] DEI notes that the Latin word was formed like its opposite extrā and like citrā, and that intrō is a parallel form.^[6][7]

The Latin preposition for “between” goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér (“between”), and the adjective to *h₁énteros (“inner”), the source also of Sanskrit अन्तर (ántara, “interior”) and Ancient Greek ἔντερον (énteron, “intestine”).^[8][1]

The shortened form tra comes from it, and the southern dialects have forms without the initial vowel.^[9][3] In Sicily the preposition is Sicilian ntra or nta, and the adverb dintra or rintra.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the 13th century in the sense “between, among”.^{[2][11][12][13]}

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used it for position in space and time and for relations between people or things.^[4] Dante has Nel crudo sasso intra Tevero e Arno (“On the harsh rock between Tiber and Arno”), and Boccaccio intra gli altri (“among the others”).^[12][4] Petrarch has the old form entra in entra due, “in two minds”.^[4]

Leopardi still used it, and Redi for a colour between grey and black.^[4] Tommaseo thought it survived with the sense of tra in some dialects and could be used in verse or to imitate dialect speech.^[7] The dictionaries now mark it archaic or literary.^[12][2][4]

Timeline

• 1211 – The shortened form tra appears in a Florentine bankers' account book.^[9][3]
• 13th century – The date of intra.^[2][11]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses tra and intra.^[9][12]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (archaic, literary) between, among, in the middle of, in space, time or relation: Nel crudo sasso intra Tevero e Arno (Dante). Intra questo mezzo meant “meanwhile”, and essere intra due “to be in doubt”.^{[2][12][13][4]}

Word family

• tra

Related words

• entro
• interno
• Latin inter
• Latin intra

Usage notes

Intra causes doubling of the following consonant.^[12][4] The old form was entra.^[4][5] The spelling in tra, found in Carducci and D'Annunzio, is better taken as a compound preposition with in strengthening tra, like in fra and in su.^[4] Intra, part of Verbania in Piedmont, is named from the Latin word because it lies between two rivers.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
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 Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2072
7. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse