Etymologically
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marito

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Pronunciation

Forms

marito m (plural mariti, diminutive maritìno, augmentative maritóne, pejorative maritàccio or maritùccio)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin marītus (“married; husband”).[2][3][1][4] DELI calls it a learned word, but Nocentini and Meyer-Lübke treat it as inherited.[5][2][4] In Latin it was first an adjective of farming: trees were said to be “married” to the vines they supported in Columella.[5][6] As a noun it replaced Latin vir (“man”) in the sense “husband”.[7]

The same word is French mari, Occitan marit, Catalan marit, Spanish marido, Portuguese marido, Sardinian maridu, Friulian marid and Dalmatian marait.[2][4][8] It is missing from Romanian, from the southern Italian dialects and, from the modern French dialects, which say “my man” instead.[4][7]

DELI, GRADIT and the OLD call the origin of the Latin word uncertain.[5][3][9] Nocentini and de Vaan see in it a possessive derivative, “provided with a young woman”, of a stem Proto-Indo-European *mor-ih₂- (“young woman”), comparing Ancient Greek μεῖραξ (meîrax, “boy, girl”), Sanskrit मर्य (márya, “young man”), Lithuanian martì (“bride”) and Welsh merch (“daughter”).[2][10][1] The Romans connected it with Latin mās (“male”), and Devoto thinks that link gave it its male sense.[6][11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the rent records of the Badia di Coltibuono, in Tuscany, from the end of the 12th century, and the form marì appears in the bilingual dialogue of Raimbaut de Vaqueiras before 1194.[5] The sense is “husband”.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb maritare, “to give a woman in marriage”, is recorded before 1250, maritata “married woman” in Cielo d'Alcamo in the same period, and the reflexive maritarsi “to take a husband” in 1276.[5] Boccaccio's lasagne maritate (about 1354–1355) uses the participle of a dish that combines several ingredients.[5] Dante calls the pope the husband (marito) of the Church.[3]

The farming sense of Latin survives: marito is still the tree, such as an elm or a mulberry, that supports a vine.[3][12][13] In Rome and Lombardy it has been a slang name for a bed-warmer since the 18th century.[7][12] The Roman sweet bun maritozzo, which engaged men gave their sweethearts in Lent, is derived from it.[11] The proverb tra moglie e marito non mettere il dito warns against interfering between spouses.[14]

Timeline

  • Before 1194 – Raimbaut de Vaqueiras writes marì.[5]
  • Late 12th century – The rent records of the Badia di Coltibuono have marito.[5]
  • Before 1250 – Maritare and maritata are recorded.[5]
  • 1276 – Maritarsi “to take a husband” is recorded.[5]
  • About 1354–1355 – Boccaccio writes of lasagne maritate.[5]
  • 14th century – Maritale is recorded.[5][2]
  • 18th century – Marito “bed-warmer” is recorded as slang.[7]
  • 1869 – Maritabile is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. husband: a married man, in relation to his wife: Mio marito lavora in banca.[3][12][13]
  2. (jocular) The male of a pair of animals.[3][12]
  3. (agriculture) A tree that supports a vine.[3][12][13]
  4. (regional) A bed-warmer.[3][12][15]

Word family

  • maritare
  • maritata
  • maritato
  • maritale
  • maritabile
  • maritino
  • maritozzo

Usage notes

Prendere marito means “to get married” (of a woman), and a girl da marito or in età da marito was one old enough to marry.[12][15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2369
  8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 637
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli