migliore

Forms

migliore m or f by sense (plural migliori)^[1] Old Italian also had megliore, and Guittone d'Arezzo has the shortened meglior.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin melior (“better”), from the accusative ⟨meliōrem⟩, which served in Latin as the comparative of bonus (“good”).^[3][4][5][1] The same word is French meilleur, Occitan melhor, Catalan millor, Spanish mejor and Portuguese melhor; the neuter melius gave the adverb meglio.^[4][6]

DELI and Nocentini connect the Latin word with multus (“much”), so that its first meaning would have been “bigger” or “stronger”.^[3][4][7] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *mélyōs and compares Ancient Greek μάλα (mála, “very”), but calls the etymology weak; he mentions as an alternative a link with Ancient Greek μέλω (mélō, “to care for”) and Hittite ⟨māl⟩ “mind”.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest record is the Ritmo laurenziano of the late 12th century, with the sense “better, more good”;^[3][4] GRADIT dates the word from 1219.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294) has meglior for “happier, less hard”, and Dante (1313–1319) migliore in this sense;^[3] Giordano da Pisa (1303–1306) uses it for “more useful, more convenient”.^[3] The noun “the best person” is in Domenico Cavalca before 1342.^[3]

The verb migliorare continues Late Latin meliōrō, recorded in Ulpian before 228; it is in the Ritmo laurenziano as melliorare “to become better”.^[3][4] The noun miglioramento is in the Breve di Montieri (1219) as mellioramento.^[3] Miglioria “improvement to land or buildings” (1764) was disliked by the purists, and migliorismo (1957) is English meliorism.^[3][4]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano uses the adjective and melliorare.^[3]
• 1219 – The Breve di Montieri uses mellioramento.^[3][5]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses meglior.^[3]
• 1303–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for more useful.^[3]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses migliore as a noun.^[3]
• 1764 – Miglioria is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. better, the comparative of buono: Questo vino è migliore di quello.^[5][9][1]
2. (with the article) The best: Luca è il mio migliore amico.^[5][1]
3. More able or skilled in an art or profession.^[5]
4. Superior in quality or value; more advantageous, more convenient.^[5][3]
5. More suitable, more fitting.^[5]
6. In better health or spirits.^[5][3]

Noun

1. The best, the person who excels among others: vince il migliore.^[5][3][1]

Word family

• migliorare
• miglioramento
• migliorativo
• miglioria
• migliorismo
• migliorista

Related words

• meglio
• buono
• Latin melior

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 282
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier