Etymologically
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ma

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Pronunciation

  • /ma/, /ˈma/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin magis (“more; rather”).[2][3][4][1] It went through an older form Old Italian mai, recorded in early texts, which lost its last vowel;[2][5] DELI ties the loss to the general dislike of vowels in hiatus in Italian.[2][5] The adverb mai “ever” comes from the same Latin word.[3][6]

From “more”, Latin magis came to mean “rather” (as in “non…, sed magis”), and this explains its later use for contrast;[2] Catullus already has “id non est turpe, magis miserum est” (“that is not shameful, rather it is wretched”).[2] Used together with sed (“but”) in the phrase “sed magis” (“but rather”), it took on the meaning of “sed” and replaced it, and in spoken Latin it also displaced autem (“however”).[3][2] The sense “more” survives at the edges of the Romance area: Spanish más, Portuguese mais, Romanian mai.[3] As a conjunction the word is French mais, Occitan mas, Catalan mes, Sardinian ma and Aromanian ma.[3][6]

Latin “magis” is formed on the root of magnus (“great”) with a reduced form of the comparative suffix.[7] Nocentini treats it as a variant of maius, the neuter of the comparative of “magnus”.[3] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *m̥ǵh₂-is, beside the full comparative Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs.[1] DELI calls its formation unexpected.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The conjunction appears early in the 13th century in Girardo Patecchio, and before 1250 in Giacomo da Lentini, opposing two parts of a sentence or two clauses.[2][3][4] Giacomo writes: Dunque, moriraio eo? / No, ma lo core meo / more spesso e più forte (“So shall I die? No, but my heart dies often and harder”).[8]

Semantic evolution

Dante already strengthens ma with other adverbs and conjunctions;[2] DELI counts 1,142 instances of conjunctions of this kind in his works.[2] Combinations such as ma però and ma tuttavia remain colloquial.[9][10] Boccaccio has Io dirò forse una cosa incredibile, ma vera (“I shall perhaps say something incredible, but true”).[11]

Beside opposition, ma came to open a sentence that moves to a new subject or returns to an old one, to give emphasis to questions and exclamations (ma davvero?), and to intensify a repeated word (è freddo, ma freddo).[4][12][9] As a noun, “an objection, a doubt”, it is recorded before 1400 in Franco Sacchetti.[2] Its derivatives include macché “not at all”, recorded as mache? by Florio in 1598 and in its modern spelling in 1902, and the interjection of doubt mah, from before 1542.[2][3]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – First record, in Girardo Patecchio.[2][3]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ma.[2]
  • 1300–1313 – Dante combines ma with other adverbs and conjunctions.[2]
  • Before 1400 – The noun ma “objection” in Franco Sacchetti.[2]
  • Before 1542 – The interjection mah.[3]
  • 1598 – Florio records mache?.[2]
  • 1902 – Macché in Cesare Pascarella.[2]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. but: opposes two parts of a sentence with the same function, or two clauses: è piccolo ma robusto.[4][13][9]
  2. After a negative: but rather, instead: non a Roma, ma a Napoli.[5][13][12]
  3. In non solo… ma anche: not only… but also.[13][5]
  4. (colloquial) Intensifying a repeated word: è caro, ma caro davvero.[4][9]
  5. At the start of a sentence, moving to another subject or back to the main one: ma torniamo a noi.[4][9]
  6. (colloquial) Giving emphasis or irony to questions and exclamations: ma sei sicuro?[4][9]

Noun

  1. (invariable) A doubt, objection or hesitation: basta con i tuoi ma.[4][2][10]

Word family

  • macché
  • mah
  • massì

Usage notes

Ma is also written for the interjection mah, which expresses doubt or resignation.[4][13][1] In Tuscan it doubles the following consonant, as fixed in the spelling of macché.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier