mezzogiorno

Forms

mezzogiorno m (plural mezzogiorni)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian mezzo (“half; middle”) + giorno (“day”), literally “midday”.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Compare Catalan migjorn and Romanian miazăzi.^[1] Wiktionary takes its use for southern Italy as a calque of Latin merīdiēs (“midday; south”), after the position of the sun at midday in the northern hemisphere, and compares French Midi (“southern France”).^[1][6]

The first part is from Latin medius (“central, middle”), from Proto-Indo-European *medhi-o- (“middle”).^[7][8] The second is from Latin diurnus (“daily, of the day”), from diēs (“day”), which replaced the shorter dì in much of Italy.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Percivalle Doria, a Tuscan poet, before 1264, in the sense “the hour at which the sun is highest above the horizon”.^[5] DELI dates meçogiorno for noon to the 13th century, and the sense “south” to an itinerary of the Holy Land of about 1275.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian wrote the compound as one word or two, with forms such as meçogiorno, mezzo giorno, Sicilian mezzuiornu and southern miezo iuorno.^[5] A Florentine chronicle says that in 1162 the sun was darkened from the hour of noon (dall'ora di mezogiorno) until mid-afternoon.^[11] The word also meant full daylight, the south, and the regions lying to the south.^[5] Dante uses it for the south in 1304–1308, and Davanzati, before 1600, for a south wind, in the plural mezigiorni.^[9]

From 1805 it named the southern part of a region, and in 1898 Ettore Ciccotti's Mezzogiorno e Settentrione d'Italia used it for southern Italy.^[9] La questione del Mezzogiorno became the name of the problem of southern Italy's development, and Cassa per il Mezzogiorno that of a public fund.^[11][2] English took Mezzogiorno in 1932.^[12] Astronomy distinguishes mezzogiorno vero, mezzogiorno medio and mezzogiorno civile.^[6]

Timeline

• Before 1264 – Percivalle Doria uses the word for noon.^[5]
• About 1275 – Meçogiorno means “south” in an itinerary of the Holy Land.^[9]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses mezzogiorno for the south.^[9]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani writes mezzogiorno.^[9]
• Before 1600 – Davanzati uses the word for a south wind.^[9]
• 1805 – The sense “southern part of a region” is recorded.^[9]
• 1898 – Ettore Ciccotti uses Mezzogiorno for southern Italy.^[9]
• 1932 – English Mezzogiorno is first recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. noon, midday: twelve o'clock: Ci vediamo davanti alla stazione verso mezzogiorno.^{[2][3][4][10]}
2. The striking of noon by a clock or bells: Il campanile della piazza ha appena battuto mezzogiorno.^[2][3][13]
3. (astronomy) The moment the sun crosses the upper meridian of a place: mezzogiorno vero, mezzogiorno medio.^[2][3][14]
4. south, the cardinal point: Le vigne guardano a mezzogiorno.^[2][3][4]
5. A wind blowing from the south.^[2][10]
6. The southern part of a country or region: il mezzogiorno del Portogallo.^[2][3][10]
7. Mezzogiorno (capitalised): southern Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia: la questione del Mezzogiorno.^{[2][3][10][1]}

Related words

• mezzo
• giorno
• mezzanotte
• meridione
• Latin meridies
• Catalan migjorn

Usage notes

The plural mezzogiorni is uncommon.^[3][4] Old texts also have the plural mezzigiorni.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana