maledizione
Pronunciation
- /ma.le.ditˈt͡sjo.ne/[1]
Forms
maledizione f (plural maledizioni)[1] Old forms are Old Italian maladizione, which survives as an archaism, and Old Italian maledezone.[2][3][4]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Latin maledictiō (“slander, abuse”), a learned word.[2][5][6][7] The Latin noun is formed from maledīcō (“to speak ill of”) with the suffix -tiō, and so is related to maledire.[8][1][5] Its classical sense was “slander”; the Church sense “curse” is found in Jerome in the 4th century, beside Ancient Greek κακολογία (kakología, “evil-speaking”).[7]
French has the same learned word, French malédiction (14th century), which replaced the inherited Old French maudiçon.[7][9]
Earliest recorded meaning
The oldest form DELI cites is maladizione, before 1250, in Cielo d'Alcamo.[2] The act of cursing is first recorded in Giordano da Pisa's sermons of 1304, which list among the devil's signs l'idolatria, l'indivinamenti, le malie e ogne maledizione (“idolatry, soothsaying, spells and every curse”).[2][4][6]
Semantic evolution
In Old Italian the word also meant a sentence of excommunication, as in Dante's per lor maladizion sì non si perde (“by their curse one is not so lost”).[6] Boccaccio has a character promise that her mouth will never be without le tue maladizioni (“curses on you”).[4] The old Latin sense “slander” lasted into the 14th century and is now obsolete.[7][10][6]
The modern form maledizione is recorded before 1484 in Luigi Pulci.[2] From the 19th century the word is also an oath, an exclamation of anger.[7]
Timeline
- Before 1250 – Maladizione appears in Cielo d'Alcamo.[2]
- 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses the word for a curse.[2][6]
- Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi writes maledezone.[2]
- Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses the form maledizione.[2]
- 19th century – The word is used as an interjection.[7]
Meanings
Noun
- A curse, the calling down of divine punishment or of misfortune on someone, and the words that do it: Il vecchio scagliò la sua maledizione sul figlio.[6][3][11]
- An imprecation, an insult shouted in anger.[6][3][11]
- A punishment sent by God.[6][3]
- Misfortune, ill luck: avere la maledizione addosso.[6][3][10]
- (figurative) A person or thing that causes ruin, or a great nuisance: Questa nebbia è una maledizione per chi guida.[6][3][11]
- (obsolete) slander.[6][10]
Interjection
Related words
- maledire
- maledetto
- benedizione
- Latin maledictio
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
- ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
- ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2329
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
- ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
- ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse