Etymologically
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meno

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Pronunciation

Forms

meno (invariable)[1] Before another word it is often shortened to men.[2][3][1] Old Italian also had mino.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin minus (“less”), the neuter of minor (“smaller”) used as an adverb.[5][6][7][8] The adjective serves as the comparative of parvus (“small”).[7][3] The same word is French moins, Occitan menhs, Catalan menys, Spanish menos, Portuguese menos and Sardinian minus.[6][9]

DELI traces it to an Indo-European root for smallness, with the vowel influenced by minuō (“to lessen”).[5] De Vaan reconstructs an old comparative Proto-Indo-European *meih₁-i̯ōs- (“less”), reshaped in Italic after the verb meaning “to lessen”; related are Oscan mins (“less”), Ancient Greek μείων (meíōn, “smaller”) and Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (mins, “less”).[10][11]

Through French the Latin word also gave a prefix: French ⟨mes-⟩ is the source of Italian mis-.[9][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and Nocentini date meno to 1211, but DELI points out that in that Florentine account book the word is only the editor's expansion of an abbreviation.[7][6][5] DELI's earliest secure records are before 1250, the adjective “smaller in quantity” in Maestro Torrigiano and the noun “the lesser amount” in Giacomo da Lentini.[5]

Semantic evolution

The adverb “in smaller measure” is in Dante (before 1321) and Francesco da Barberino (before 1348), and Dante also uses it for what is lacking in a measurement.[5] The Peruzzi account books (1308–1380) use it in subtraction and as a preposition “except”.[5] I meno “the minority” is in Giovan Battista Gelli before 1563; as a mathematical sign it is recorded in 1741 for subtraction and in 1748, in Maria Gaetana Agnesi, for a negative number.[5]

The phrase fare a meno “to do without” was described by D'Alberti in 1803 as a French turn of phrase that had become usual in Florence and elsewhere.[5] Meno che meno as an emphatic “certainly not” is recorded by Tommaseo in 1869.[5] As a musical direction (meno mosso “less fast”) the word passed into English in 1724 and into French and German.[13]

Timeline

  • 1211 – A doubtful first record, in a Florentine account book.[7][5]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini and Maestro Torrigiano use meno.[5]
  • 1308–1380 – The Peruzzi account books use it for subtraction and for “except”.[5]
  • 1724 – English meno as a musical term is first recorded.[13]
  • 1741 – Meno is the name of the minus sign.[5]
  • 1803 – D'Alberti calls fare a meno a French turn of phrase.[5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. less, to a smaller extent; with adjectives and adverbs it forms the comparative of inferiority, and with the article the relative superlative: Oggi piove meno di ieri.[7][8][3]
  2. After o, in doubtful or alternative questions, not: Dimmi se vieni o meno.[7][1]
  3. (mathematics) minus: nove meno quattro; also in times, temperatures and school marks: sono le otto meno un quarto, sette meno.[7][1]

Adjective

  1. Less, fewer (invariable): C'era meno traffico del solito.[8][3][5]

Preposition

  1. except, but: Sono venuti tutti meno lui.[5][8][14]

Noun

  1. The least, the smallest amount, i meno, the minority.[5][3][14]
  2. (mathematics) The minus sign.[5][7]

Word family

Usage notes

Common phrases include fare a meno di “to do without”, venire meno “to fail; to faint”, più o meno “more or less”, meno male “thank goodness”, a meno che “unless” and in men che non si dica “in no time”.[7][14][15] When no second term follows the verb, di meno is used: devi mangiare di meno.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  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. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  13. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli