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lentamente

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word lentamente

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
before 1348, Giovanni Villani
Ultimate origin
Latin lentus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lentus
French lent
Italian lentamente
From the same root
Latin lente ← lentus
Latin lentitudo ← lentus

Pronunciation

  • /len.taˈmen.te/, /ˌlɛn.taˈmen.te/[1]

Forms

lentamente (superlative lentissimamente)[1] Old Italian also has lentemente, in Francesco da Buti.[2]

Etymology

It is from Italian lento (“slow”) + -mente, with the adverbial suffix.[3][1][4] The adjective is inherited from Latin lentus (“pliant; sticky; slow”), a word without clear relatives inside Latin;[5][6] Nocentini compares only Germanic words such as Old High German lindi (“mild, soft”).[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the adverb to before 1348.[3] The GDLI's earliest quotation is from Giovanni Villani's chronicle, where the Florentine troops at Bologna sent for help, and it lentamente vi vennono, “came there slowly”.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Old texts already use the word for slow movement, and also for slackness and idleness, as in Matteo Villani's “he behaved basely and sluggishly in everything”.[2] Galileo has the superlative lentissimamente for stars that move very slowly in small circles.[7] Today it also means “gradually”, of things that change or improve by degrees.[3][4]

As a musical direction lentamente passed into English in 1762, and French rendered it with its own lentement (1767).[8]

Timeline

  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses lentamente.[3][7]
  • 1762 – English records lentamente as a musical direction.[8]
  • 1767 – French lentement is used in the same musical sense.[8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. slowly, at a slow pace: Il treno entrò lentamente in stazione.[3][4][9]
  2. gradually, by degrees: La febbre sta lentamente scendendo.[3][4]
  3. (music) Slowly, as a direction to the performer.[8]
  • lento
  • lentezza
  • rallentare
  • allentare

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 8, 945
  8. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  9. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Lentamente.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/lentamente. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·