marzo

Forms

marzo m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin Mārtius (“of Mars”), short for Martius mensis, the month dedicated to Mārs (“Mars”).^[2][3][4][1] Nocentini notes that the old Roman year began with this month and that Mars was an Italic god connected with farming.^[2] The Latin word is recorded from Titus Quinctius Atta, who died in 77 BC, and the Romance words lead back to a Proto-Romance /ˈmartiu/, pronounced [ˈmartsu].^[5]

The same word is French mars, Old Occitan martz, Catalan mars, Spanish marzo, Portuguese março and Sardinian martu, and it is found in every branch of Romance except Dalmatian.^[2][6][5] The Latin name also passed into German März and into Greek, from which the Greek dialects of Bova and Otranto took their name for the month.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and Devoto–Oli date the first record to 1211, for the third month of the civil year;^[8][3][4] GRADIT gives 1234.^[8][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian texts use the word in dates and accounts, as in the Sienese records of Matasala, and Folgore da San Gimignano gives a sonnet to the month (Di marzo sì vi do una peschiera).^[9] Boccaccio dates the Florentine plague from it: Infra 'l marzo e il prossimo luglio vegnente.^[9][10]

The month's changeable weather is in the proverb Marzo pazzerello, vedi il sole e prendi l'ombrello, and essere nato di marzo means to have a moody, eccentric character.^[11][4][12] Derivatives refer to things of the season: marzuolo (before 1320) for crops sown in March, marza (before 1320) for a graft, because grafting is done in spring, and marzaiola (1803) for the garganey, a duck that passes in March.^[2][13] The word was borrowed into Cimbrian as martzo and into Somali as maarso.^[1]

Timeline

• 1211 – Marzo is first recorded.^[8][3]
• 1234 – GRADIT's date of first record.^[4]
• Before 1320 – Marza “graft” and marzuolo are recorded.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio's Decameron dates the plague from March to July.^[9]
• 1803 – Marzaiola is recorded for a duck.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. March, the third month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, with 31 days; the first month of the old Roman calendar: Ci sposeremo a marzo.^[4][3][14]
2. marzo pazzerello or marzo pazzo: March as a month of changeable weather.^[4][15][12]
3. (figurative) essere nato di marzo: to have a capricious, changeable character.^[4][3][12]

Word family

• marza
• marzaiolo
• marzaiola
• marzolino
• marzuolo
• marzeggiare

Related words

• Marte
• marziale
• Latin Mārtius
• French mars

Usage notes

Set phrases include le idi di marzo, 15 March 44 BC, the day Caesar was killed, and calen di marzo, the first of March.^[14][4][10] The month is written mar. in abbreviations.^[1]

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 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 f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
8. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli