Etymologically
Log in

martedì

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Italian word martedì

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1238 Matasala's account book, as martidie More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin Martis dies
Ultimate origin
Latin Martis diēs

Pronunciation

  • /mar.teˈdi/[1]

Forms

martedì m (invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin Martis diēs (“day of Mars”), with the genitive of Mārs, god of war and the planet, before diēs (“day”).[2][3][4][1][5] DELI calls Mars an Italic name without an etymology.[6] The day was named after the planet, which was believed to rule its first hour.[3][4][7]

Occitan and Catalan keep the Latin order, as Occitan di martz and Catalan di mars; Spanish martes, Sardinian martis and Romanian marți have the short form, and Portuguese terça-feira follows the church count of days.[5] Contini argued that the type with “day” in the centre of the Romance area (French mardi, Italian, Ladin) is an innovation against plain Martis in the periphery, Spanish, Romanian and Dalmatian mirte; in Italy the dialects of Piedmont, Veneto and Romagna, much of Calabria and Sicily, and Sardinia and Corsica have that older type.[6]

The Germanic names, German Dienstag, Old Norse týsdagr, Old English tīwesdæg and the English word Tuesday, come from the god Proto-Germanic *Tīwaz, who was identified with Mars.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the accounts of Matasala, 1238, in the form martidie: grain given a Matasala martidie vi a l'entrante di marzo, “to Matasala on Tuesday the 6th at the beginning of March”.[6][9][2]

Semantic evolution

Old forms were martidie, martedie and martidì;[6][9][10] martedì is found in the 14th century.[6][9][10] The word was once also feminine.[8] Fra Giordano reports a belief that it was unlucky to change one's clothes on a Tuesday, and popular belief still counts the day, like Friday, as ill-omened.[9][10][7] Boccaccio's seven young women meet in Santa Maria Novella un martedì mattina, one Tuesday morning.[10][9]

Martedì grasso, the last day of Carnival, is recorded in John Florio in 1598; compare French mardi gras.[6][8]

Timeline

  • 1238 – Martidie appears in Matasala's accounts.[6][2]
  • 14th century – The form martedì is recorded.[6]
  • 1598 – John Florio records martedì grasso.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Tuesday, the second day of the civil week and the third of the liturgical week: Ci vediamo martedì.[2][11][4]
  2. martedì grasso: Shrove Tuesday, the last day of Carnival (carnevale).[11][3][12]

Usage notes

The noun is invariable.[2][4] With the article, il martedì means “on Tuesdays, every Tuesday”.[4][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2375
  9. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 836
  10. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  11. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Martedì.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/marted%C3%AC. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·