mentre
Pronunciation
- /ˈmen.tre/[1]
Forms
mentre (conjunction; also a masculine noun in set phrases)[2][1] The old forms are Old Italian domentre, Old Italian dimentre and northern Old Italian demente.[3][4]
Etymology
It is inherited from Old Italian domentre without its first syllable, inherited from Latin dum interim (“while meanwhile”), a phrase of dum (“while”) and interim (“in the meantime”).[5][6][7][8] The unstressed vowel of ⟨interim⟩ dropped regularly.[9] The same phrase gave Old Occitan domentre, Old French dementres and Old Spanish domientre (modern Spanish mientras).[6][4]
Wiktionary traces dum to an adverb Proto-Italic *dūm built on Proto-Indo-European *dweh₂- (“long”).[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
DELI's first record of mentre is in the Ritmo laurenziano at the end of the 12th century, in the sense “at the time when”;[5][7][6] GRADIT dates it before 1250, while Nocentini places it only in the 16th century.[5][7][6] The full form domentre is in a Venetian treaty with Aleppo of 1225: “domentre ke vegnerà lo meso” (until the messenger comes).[3] GDLI quotes the Sicilian poets: “Eo vivo dolzemente / mentre mia donna miro” (I live sweetly while I gaze at my lady).[4]
Semantic evolution
Old Italian mentre and domentre could also mean “until, as long as”, a sense still found in literary Italian.[3][10][11] The adversative sense “whereas” appears in Galileo, before 1642.[5] The phrase in questo mentre “at this very moment”, with the word used as a noun, is in Domenico Cavalca before 1342, and in quel mentre in Pietro Aretino in 1540.[5] The older mentre che (Dante, Boccaccio) is now uncommon.[11][10]
Timeline
- Late 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano uses mentre.[5]
- 1225 – A Venetian treaty with Aleppo uses domentre.[3]
- Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses in questo mentre.[5]
- 1540 – Pietro Aretino uses in quel mentre.[5]
- Before 1642 – Galileo uses mentre “whereas”.[5]
Meanings
Conjunction
- while, at the time when, during the time that: Mentre cucinavo è andata via la luce.[7][2][12]
- (literary) As long as, until: Approfittane mentre puoi.[7][12][10]
- whereas, while on the contrary: Lui lavora sodo, mentre il fratello non fa niente.[7][2][1]
Noun
Related words
- interim
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d 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 d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
- ^ 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 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
- ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2425
- ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 278
- ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
- ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 653
- ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse