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inutile

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word inutile

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1239–1248, Guido Faba (Bologna)
Borrowed from
Latin inutilis
Ultimate origin
Latin ūtilis
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin utilis
French utile
Italian utile
Latin inutilis
French inutile
Italian inutile
From the same root
Latin utiliter ← utilis
French utiliser ← utile

Pronunciation

  • /iˈnu.ti.le/[1]

Forms

inutile m or f by sense (plural inutili)[1] Old Italian forms include inutele, innutile, inutole and enutele.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inūtilis (“useless, unprofitable”), a learned word, formed in- (“not”) and ūtilis (“useful”).[4][5][6][7][1] The Latin adjective passed into all the western Romance languages, such as French inutile, recorded from the 12th century, and also reached English inutile.[8][6] German rendered it with the native German unnütz.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Gemma purpurea of Guido Faba, written at Bologna in 1239–1248.[2] DELI dates the word to Domenico Cavalca, before 1342, in the sense “which serves no purpose, has no effect”: much praying, he writes, “is neither blameworthy nor useless” (non è riprensibile né inutile).[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word also described barren land and plants that bear no fruit, people unfit for a task or simply idle, and even things that do harm.[2] DELI dates the senses “superfluous, vain” to Giovanni Morelli, before 1444.[4] Cavalca also has the old form inutole, in scienze curiose ed inutoli “idle and useless sciences”.[9]

The adverb inutilmente is in Petrarch (1374), and inutilità, from Latin inutilitas, in Machiavelli, before 1527.[4] Inutilizzare (1799) and inutilizzabile (1955) follow French inutiliser and inutilisable.[4] Tommaseo disliked perfettamente inutile, which he thought French, and preferred del tutto inutile.[9] In administrative Italian an ente inutile is a public body that no longer serves any purpose.[6]

Timeline

  • 1239–1248 – Guido Faba uses the word at Bologna.[2]
  • Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for what serves no purpose.[4]
  • 1374 – Petrarch has the adverb inutilmente.[4]
  • Before 1444 – Giovanni Morelli uses it for “superfluous, vain”.[4]
  • Before 1527 – Machiavelli has inutilità.[4]
  • 1799 – Inutilizzare appears in the Monitore napoletano.[4]
  • 1955 – Inutilizzabile is first recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. useless, of no use or advantage: È inutile urlare, nessuno ti sente.[6][10][11][1]
  2. No longer fit for its purpose, unusable: Senza batteria il telefono è inutile.[6][10][12]
  3. superfluous, needless; often impersonal, è inutile with an infinitive or che: È inutile che tu mi chiami domani.[6][10][13]
  4. Ineffective, fruitless: Le ricerche dei soccorritori sono state inutili.[6][12][1] Used alone, è inutile or è tutto inutile expresses resignation.[6][10][12]
  5. Of a person, of no help to others, inept: sentirsi inutile.[6][10][12]
  6. Non inutile: of some use, worth doing.[6][13][11]

Noun

  1. (uncommon) What is useless.[14][2]

Word family

  • inutilità
  • inutilmente
  • inutilizzare
  • inutilizzabile

Usage notes

Inutile is a learned word; the popular negative of utile is disutile, which DEI gives as a synonym.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ 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, 388
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ 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. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  9. ^ a b 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2079

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

“Inutile.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/inutile. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·